


Transcendental

by Elise_the_Writing_Desk



Series: Time and Again [1]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Charming protagonist, Cunning male lead, Eventual Romance, F/M, Love interest falls in love first, Original Character(s), Pining, Retelling, Romantic Soulmates, Time Skips, Unreliable Narrator
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-28
Updated: 2019-12-27
Packaged: 2020-10-29 20:07:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 33,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20802233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elise_the_Writing_Desk/pseuds/Elise_the_Writing_Desk
Summary: Having a new lease on life as Takamaki Ann and with the only memory she has was the plot of Persona, she strives to alter some things from the game. It couldn't be anymore perfect; as the Lovers Arcana Confidant, fixing things with love might do the trick! Perhaps, if she could convince Akechi Goro and the Protagonist to love each other, they could save the Second Detective Prince from his tragic doom...Unfortunately she didn't expect that the dealings with fate is such a tricky turmoil. Could she really change the future for the better, or is she going to ruin everything for the Protagonist?





	1. The Rain and Meetings

_The sun will come out…tomorrow! Bet your bottom dollar-_

The rain fell. The all-too-familiar patio. Strange, having to walk over to it herself and stop next to the dark-haired teen. She could feel his curious gaze on him—and as she took off her hoodie, revealing her blond bushes, she knew his gaze stayed.

_Just like in the game_.

The protagonist kept staring, so she turned to him with a wry smile.

This is _her_ first appearance in the game, as Takamaki Ann. And before her, was the Protagonist of the game.

The last thing she remembered about her past life was that game. _Persona_. It tells an other-worldly crossover adventures of teenagers going against the apathy of society. For some strange reasons, she had been reincarnated as Takamaki Ann, one of the first members that would join the Protagonist in his ventures against the oppressive and conforming society of Japan.

She knew _everything_ that was about to go down. For a while after she woke up in this form, she had been thinking the reason why…and she decided that the reason might not matter—it’s up to _her_ to act on her knowledge.

Pulling her out of her thoughts was a gentle honking of a car which stopped before the closed store. Similar to the game, the window rolled down, revealing an adult man with frizzy short hair and obnoxiously chiseled chin.

“Hey, let me give you a ride, Takamaki.”

That man was the first boss of the first arc; Kamoshida Suguru. Their very own PE teacher and volley ball team coach at Shujin; an ex gold medal olympian.

_A rapist bully manchild._

_If Ann knew what he’d do to her best friend…if only she’d knew what her best friend would do…_

Yes. She might not be the real Ann, but she’d sworn to herself to protect the character’s honor. The real Ann wouldn’t just conform in consideration for her best friend’s feelings.

The game had began for the Protagonist, but for her _this_ was her beginning. She’d decided to save the people who didn’t deserve what they got in the original game. So with a feigned smile she had practised in the past few days, she said;

“Thank you sensei! But maybe not today. I’m not in a hurry to go back to school.”

“No need to hold back, you know? I’m only trying to get you out of the rain.”

“You mean you want me to hurry up back to school? Sounds a bit dreadful. I’d like to take it slow. Drive safely, sensei.”

In the game, trying to get on Kamoshida’s good side, Ann would take the offer. She did this to secure a spot at the team for her best friend, Suzui Shiho, in the volley ball championship. However, the man was too greedy. He was only trying to get into her pants and spread the rumors that she’s his ‘bitch’. Even if Ann went with his whim, that man wouldn’t let Shiho in the team.

The teacher relented and told them to properly come to school before driving off.

The blonde turned to look at the Protagonist, who returned her gaze with bemusement. She smiled.

“You’re not a familiar face. I’m Takamaki Ann.” She extended a hand.

“Amamiya Ren. I just moved here.” He smiled in return, accepting the handshake. His hand was quite calloused and slender, a little rough and pale. The Protagonist had unkempt permy raven hair and donned quite the thick-frammed glasses, shielding his dark grey eyes.

His hand was cold.

“What’s that perverted bastard up to!?” another blond came into the picture, slightly panting, eyes glaring at the leaving vehicle. He turned to Ann swiftly. “You okay, Takamaki?”

“Not really. School, you know.” She coyly shrugged, her answer making the fake-blond snort, muttering a ‘damn right’ to himself.

“Perverted bastard.” Ren repeated with a blink, gazing back at the car that soon disappeared in a turn.

Before the fake blond could hiss at him for being unreasonably cautious, Ann cut in;

“Sakamoto, this is Amamiya Ren. He just transferred in.”

“Ha—oh. I see. I’m Sakamoto Ryuji.” He shoved his hands into his pants pocket, “That guy’s bad news. Our PE teacher. Well, whatevs. Let’s get out of this rain. Through here.”

Ryuji led them through the alley ways. Ren checked his phone for nav, probably trying to memorize the path.

And that’s when the three of them were hit by a menacing headache. Ryuji flinched in his step, and the Protagonist snapped a hand onto his head. Ann didn’t think she’d feel that pained, having excpected it, but it felt as if a brick had been thrown to the back of her head, making her groan.

_This is it. We entered the Metaverse_.

Because in-game Ann went with Kamoshida, she didn’t stumble upon this event. However, _she_ had decided to pick up the pace.

Today would be the Protagonist’s Persona awakening; Arsene. They’re entities that personified the strength of one’s heart. Another event would be the first meeting with the curious creature of the other world; Morgana. And their first encounter with the boss of this arc; Kamoshida’s shadow.

_My first mission is to save Suzui Shiho._ Ann recounted the summary of her plan as she followed behind the Protagonist.

_And save Okumura Haru’s father._

“What the hell…?” Ryuji stopped struck as they exited the alley way, finding an other-worldly, gaudy castle in the place of Shujin High. The Protagonist hand that was holding his phone fell limp to his side.

Ann clutched her bag strap, filled with determination for her goals.

_And for the finale…I will save Akechi Goro!_

~.X.~

Ann succeeded infiltrating the first important event of the game!

The event went down almost similarly to what she remembered from the game; Ren and Ryuji got taken by the guards—the only difference was that she’s _here_, and the guards frantically chased her off, calling her ‘princess!’…

_Good thing I practiced sprinting before this…_Ann huffed, hiding in a blindspot and listened for the guards’ heavy steps to cease.

She had escaped the guards and went to find the other team member; Morgana. Unfortunately, unlike in the game, the place is much bigger and she couldn’t run for long…because _real life_. Ann was not going to save Ren and Ryuji, because it’s necessary for them to be trapped. The Protagonist needed to awaken to his power—and, she’s not trying to be the all-saving-grace heroine here! Even deciding to change the fates of three people were already pushing it for her.

Ann wasn’t sure if she could even pull it off. But she’d worry about that later.

In the game, Morgana was as cute as a mascot, but now, seeing it herself was quite bizzare. There was no way this thing could exist in real life in such a form! It’d be more believable if it’s a robot…

When she found him behind the bars, she was not the only one falling in trance of shock. The creature was gaping at her with its wide blue eyes.

“Um…what…is this?” Ann blurted out limply.

“What a meowvelous beauty…” the creature breathed out. “It seems fate has predestined this meeting...”

“Oh. Hello…Um…my name is…Takamaki Ann. Are you like one of those monsters too?”

“Fear not! I am above those cretins. Due to a curse, I have lost my humans form. I tried to regain it and ventured into this place. Alas, such a thing happened. You’ve lost your way into this world, too?”

“Yes…It’s a bit scary. The guards are looking for me and calling me princess for some reason. My friends were taken by them somewhere…”

“Fret no more, Lady Ann! Leave it to me. As long as you help me out of here, I’ll help you!”

“If I let you out, will you help me find my friends and leave this castle?” she asked, kneeling before the bars that locked the cat-like being.

“I, Morgana, swore to that! I will, with my life, make sure of it that you leave this castle unharmed.” The dramatic creature crossed its finger on his tiny chest, his blue eyes glimmering in mesmerizement.

_Oh right! This little guy has a huge crush on Ann._ She thought to herself.

“So you’re Morgana. That’s a cool name! The witch from King Arthur’s legend.”

“Lady Ann! You’re knowledgeable as you are beautiful!” Morgana swooned, his head bobbing right and left. “Oh, um, the key is over there!” he snapped out of it and pointed at the key hanging a bit too far from his reach.

It was cute watching the cat pranced around after regaining his freedom. She told him that two of her friends were trapped somewhere in the castle on the other side of the grand hall. Morgana puffed his chest proudly, telling her to worry no more as he shall find her friends.

However, to his discontentment, the two were already rushing their way.

“Takamaki! God damn, I thought you also got shit!” Ryuji gasped.

“I’m glad you’re safe.” Ann just noticed the Protagonist calmly walking behind Ryuji, donning the coolest trenchcoat ever.

It’s exactly the same as in the game! No…even cooler by how natural and realistic it is! It flared with his every step, and those red gloves complimented the whole design really well, not leaving it dull like if it would with black or white. He looked _nothing_ like the dorkly new kid she’d seen several hours ago.

“Like what you see?” he noticed her stare, grinning wickedly as he swatted one of his arm to make his coat flare stylishly.

“So cool!” Ann couldn’t help but admired it. “How did you get it?” she added to her alibi.

“I know right!? _So cool_! It just appeared on me like some magical girl transformation—”

“Are these your friends?” Morgana quipped with a disappointed frown, “You never told me they’re males…”

“_What the hell is that!?”_ Ryuji jumped away in bewilderment. “I thought that was just some weird mascot! Shit! Amamiya, isn’t that one of those monsters!? Go kill it, man!”

Ren hummed, staring at the cat up and down, before turning to Ryuji with a relaxed smile. “It looks cute.”

“That’s not the point!”

“Hey! Who you calling cute!?”

With Ryuji shouting and Morgana hissing, the protagonist surely had some guts only laughing at them as a response. Well…of course, the Protagonist has to be a badass guy.

“Don’t worry, this is Morgana. He’s going to help us escape this place.” Ann decided to speak up. She introduced the two boys to Morgana, who didn’t seem all that happy.

“We should leave when we can.” She said, pulling out a tissue as she approached the disgusting Kamoshida statue beside the drawbridge, and set it down its lower jaw, before tentatively pulling it down.

Or tried to.

“Ugh, this is heavier than I thought.”

“What are you doing, Takamaki?”

Ann huffed and raised her right leg. “What else? I’m opening this drawbridge!” she grunted and stepped the lower jaw down, and just like in the game, it did the trick.

“Lady Ann, you’re pretty good at this.” Morgana was proud on her behalf.

“I need more muscle mass.” She hummed, patting her right upper arm.

“Then, please lead the way, Sir Morgana.” Ren quipped in with a grin, “Also, thank you for keeping Takamaki company.”

“H-Hmph! It’s only in my nature as a gentleman, it’s nothing.”

The Protagonist sure had his ways with charming the stubborn cat…

Ryuji narrowed his eyes in useless contemplation; “Don’tcha mean _gentlecat_?”

Morgana hissed at the fake-blond. Fortunately, he’s still quite taken by Ann, so he proudly led their way to escape through a room using the vent.


	2. Rumors of the School

_Takamaki came to school late with the delinquent!_

_What the heck? She’s into bad boys?_

_Thought she’s with Kamoshida?_

_Maybe she’s just a thirsty slut…Wait, more like _because_ she is a thirsty slut…_

High school kids. Were they always like this? How boorish. At least adult could be more subtle doing this. It’s nothing new that people love to hate and talk shit behind anyone else, as if they knew everything and better. She merely said sorry to Kawakami-sensei, their homeroom teacher, before going to her seat.

The Protagonist introduced himself, probably due to hearing the same things she heard, his smile was a bit bewildered. When Kawakami told him to sit behind Ann, even more shit-talking was heard.

_That side of the room…hahaha!_

_Criminal and slut. Kamoshida-sensei deserves better._

Ren stopped by her desk with a bemused stare, and she merely smiled, giving him a shrug and mouthed; _don’t mind them!_

Perhaps it’s because she didn’t feel like she’s Ann herself, or perhaps because Ann was already numb to this whole thing…well most likely, she didn’t care because she had more urgent things to worry about.

In the first arc of the game, Takamaki Ann’s best-friend, Suzui Shiho, fell as Kamoshida’s rape victim. She later on commited suicide…which was, fortunately, a failed attempt. The Protagonist, Ryuji, and their classmate, Mishima Yuuki, were later on threatened to be expelled after confronting the teacher. Regrouping with Ann, the three of them and Morgana went back to the Metaverse to fight Kamoshida’s shadow and stole his treasure in order to change the man’s heart.

_First is to stop Shiho’s gruesome tragedy…and maybe make her stay in Shujin!_ Ann noted it down.

And then an uncomfortable squirm appeared in her guts.

…

_I would have to awaken my Persona. How do I do that?_

On their way escaping the castle, Ryuji relayed everything that went down in their prison. How Ren awakened to his Persona. They ran into a shadow, and saw it first hand how Morgana and the Protagonist fought with Persona.

_It was…unironically…EPIC!_ Ann tried to get a grip from fan-girling at the coolness of that showdown.

_…And very dangerous. That’s not like in the game at all!_

Because it’s in real life, there were no ‘turns’, so they couldn’t stay idle to make decisions or plan the action. They utilized their Personas well, and seeing those deities herself was amazing.

Morgana and Ren fought swiftly, quick at their movements. Honestly, the Protagonist—when did he learn that stance!? That dagger stance was similar to a royal swordplay she saw in an anime several days ago!

_Wait I’m getting off topic in my own head…_

So, Ann asked how the Protagonist awakened to such a power. He said it’s a bit complicated.

_“I just thought that…everything that happened at the moment was ‘wrong’ and I won’t stand for it. I want to help. And then I heard Arsene making contracts with me._”

Clearly, that was something psychological. Something only Ren himself could experience within his heart. In the game, he’s always been portrayed as a ‘just’ person who strived to help people in need.

Ryuji would also soon awaken to his power. Fed up with the labels and blame falsely put on him, desperate for the power to stand up for himself, he decided to ‘breakfree’ and wreck havoc.

_But what about Ann…? Avenging Shiho? What was it again that Carmen said in the game? Nothing can be resolved by restraining oneself…But…I’m not restraining myself…am I?_

_What if I couldn’t awaken my Persona?_

It was lunchbreak when Ann noticed that Kawakami-sensei was trying to tell the Protagonist to stay away from Ryuji, whom with great timing, walked up to him. He noticed Ann behind the teacher, before tilting his head to Ren and whispered things that Ann already knew.

_Rooftop meeting…_

As Kawakami-sensei and Ryuji left, Ren turned to her with a small smile.

“Takamaki-san. Sakamoto said we should meet on the rooftop.”

“Alr—“

“Why did you have to accept that criminal to this school?” they heard a familiar voice lamenting out loud, not too far from where they stood. Ann mentally sighed.

Guess…adults were not subtle either—she forgot about this scene. She glanced at Ren, who seemed to notice, and turned to her with an easy going shrug.

The Protagonist had a different look without his glasses, so if someone never seen him without them, they’d never understand how cheeky he was. They watched the principal and the teacher walked away. Cold smiles on face.

“Kamoshidipshit.” He mumbled.

“Kobaya-Twat-face.” She nodded in agreement.

…

…

They snickered at each other’s crude name calling.

~.X.~

“Yes, Sakamoto it wasn’t a dream.” Ann said when arriving at the rooftop after school, before Ryuji could say anything. “I was there, he was there, you were there, the cat was there. It was real.”

Ryuji pursed his lower lip at her bored recounting, whilst she heard an amused chuckle from behind as Ren shut the door.

“But you didn’t see that weird Kamoshida, right?” Ryuji scowled as if trying to find explanation within his limited processor. “We locked him in and stuff, but the dude here didn’t seem to remember anything.”

“Didn’t Morgana already said that it was not _this_ world, it was a world in our brain?” Ann took a seat on a broken desk. It creaked to oneside from the slightly bent legs.

“That was something in Kamoshida’s heart, or something.” Ren added helpfully, leaning to the broken desk on the free side of the desk. Now it’s balanced. “Who cares. So long as we’re not back there, we’re safe.”

“Yeah, but like. You know, he’s an actual asshole! He acted like a golden boy here but we saw it ourselves, he thinks he owned this school!” Ryuji impatiently grumbled.

“He’s just an asshole, that’s not exactly a crime.” Ren shrugged. “I for one, don’t care if he hates me. If he’s trying to make things harder, I’ll get around it somehow.”

“How can you know that he hadn’t done worse shit than being a giant a-hole? That world—_that palace_ gotta have something more, don’tcha think?” Ryuji desperately tried to argue.

Ann bit her inner cheeks, waiting if Ren would say something. Unhelpfully, he glanced at her with a shrug, as if asking ‘what’s his deal?’.

Sighing, Ann decided that it might be a good thing to tell them. Perhaps it’d be better to accelerate the plot somehow.

“There’s something you guys might not know…but…I heard stuff. And I hate rumors, but it concerns my friend, Shiho.” She gulped when Ryuji gave her full attention, “You know how our school kissed every step that Kamoshida took? Everyone wanted to get a part of that volleyball team…not only the students, but the parents and some teachers thought that he was the only saving grace of this school. Especially for our principal.”

Ren gave a frown. “That’s shitty.”

“So what? He got a pass to walk around like the king of this school?” Ryuji scoffed mockingly, but then he glared when seeing Ann nodded.

“Yes. Everyone’s in on it.” She glanced around, and then turned to Ren. “You saw Mishima-kun, the one on duty today right? He was beaten up. Kamoshida told him to leak your info so he could join the volley team.”

Ren seemed taken aback, but whatever his reaction was, their other friend had it worse.

“_The hell!?_” Ryuji jumped off his seat as if going to punch her, so she flinched away. “Sorry—but _for real!? That’s fucked up!_”

“That’s one way to put it…” Ren muttered, now a scowl on his face. It seemed something dawned upon him as he let out a low sigh. “Are you saying…no one’s going to speak up against this?”

“Pretty much.” Ann looked away. “They wanted this. Or too scared to let go of it. Even I…okay this is a bit shitty but the stuff about me and Kamoshida wasn’t true. I was flirting with him a little so that he’d give Shiho a spot.”

“You did that for Suzui…” Ryuji frowned, shaking his head in disbelief. “Did she know this?”

“No.”

“I’ve only seen his shadow…but he seemed to be too greedy. Is your friend really good at volleyball?” Ren asked, “Because if not, then you’re both being played.”

Ann huffed. “I plan to tell her the truth.”

“You better.” Ryuji sharply said to her. “You gotta stop babying her and stop letting people walk all over you, Takamaki. You can’t just keep thinking that it’s fine as long as you have Suzui-san.”

Ann raised her brows in astonishment. This was obviously not an ideal in-game scene—she’s not supposed to be here with them in the first place. So it was quite surprising to hear such a sound lecture from Ryuji. He got a good idea of in-game Ann’s friendship with Shiho.

_Is that what Carmen meant? The restrain…I restrained myself…I mean Ann restrained herself to coddle Shiho and let everyone at school judge her badly._

She wondered if that was the case. Then it dawned to her that it might be true for Ann’s case…but _she’s not actually Ann, was she?_

~.X.~

Her and the Protagonist’s first day in Shujin was finally over. Ryuji seemed deep in thought after hearing about what actually went down in Shujin, and the truth behind the volleyball team. The Protagonist, on the other hand, seemed to act that if he could help it, he’d rather not get involved.

Which reminded Ann, that in-game, the Protagonist had five attributes that he could improve, one of them being ‘kindness’. Perhaps Ren needed more opportunities to increase it. She couldn’t exactly describe how the Protagonist was in the game, but now that she’s actually looking at him, she thought he’s a bit dorkly. Easy going, and he could joke, a bit nerdy and profoundly wise—but the way he reacted to the ‘rumors’ regarding Kamoshida was very reserved. Perhaps this was why they needed Ryuji to drag them along.

It felt awkward, but Ann had texted Shiho telling that she couldn’t wait for her to finish practice, thanks to Ryuji’s invite. By the time they finished talking, she got the reply that Shiho would have extra practice, so Ann should go ahead. Then it dawned on her that she’s heading to the station with Ren, who just casually walked next to her.

“Your friend? Suzui, wasn’t it?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

“Sorry if I’m nosy.” He quickly added, turning his head to face the road. Ann glanced at him curiously. It’s a bit hard to decipher his face behind those thick frames.

“You look really cool wearing that thief outfit.” She finally said with a small smile at the memory. Really, it was even better than in the game.

“I know, right?” the raven-haired turned to her with an excited grin. “If I can wear that kind of thing here, how cool is that?”

“You mean how _nerdy_ is that?” Ann tilted her head, humming in a tease. “Let’s see…you can totally fit in Akihabara during Comiket.”

He huffed amusedly, making his curly bangs flutter. For some reason, he seemed to gaze at an unseen distance.

At some point before they reached the station, he stopped.

“Um. Takamaki.” He began to say, and she stopped as well, turning to him. “Thanks…”

She blinked in astonishment, not quite getting it, so she stepped closer to him. He turned his head to his side, gaze still lowered.

She tried to peek at his face, but still she couldn't tell what he's thinking.

“Do you want me to ask about it? I’m very curious, but if you don’t feel like it…”

He seemed surprised hearing this. “You’re curious?”

“Of course.” She smiled, and then glanced at the train. “Let’s go to hang out in Shibuya! We gotta squeeze in first, though.” 

Coyly, Ann grabbed his wrist and led him to the crowd lining to enter the train.

Surely this was also very different than in the game…Yet, at the moment, she kinda understand why in-game Ann said that the Protagonist looked lonely. Just then, he seemed very lonely. And perhaps at the back of her mind she also began to realize that this was her life now. Amamiya Ren was someone in _her_ life. Not just a game character.

~.X.~

At the Station Square in Shibuya, they found a free bench. Ann had grabbed some drinks from the walkway before they sat there. She realized that she didn’t get the chance to be here in person until today, so it was quite an interesting experience—though, she tried her best at acting that she’s used to this place.

_Hmm, the man of Sun Arcana isn’t here yet_. Ann glanced at the spot she remembered from the game.

A small cough was heard from beside her, and she remembered why she’s here.

“Amamiya, sorry! I got distracted.” She paid him full attention. “So…what’s up? Why did you thank me?”

His eyes widened behind his goofy glasses. It seemed that he genuinely coughed from choking his drink, seeing the slight drip from the corner of his lips. He wiped it with the back of his hand, averting his gaze again.

_How odd_.

“It’s really not a big deal…I mean when you hear it. It means a lot to me though.”

“I wanna know!”

Sighing, he relented. “It’s just…stuff had been rough for me. You heard what they called me, right? Criminal. Everyone treated me that way and the past week they told me to stay out of trouble or keep my head down or…or that I'm troublesome.” He cleared his throat. “As awesome and cool as I am, I still feel stifled from all this unacceptable treatment.”

“Oh, you poor sir.” Ann followed up to his joke, and he snickered.

Though, given a few moment of silence, his solemn expression returned. Ren licked his lips, carefully choosing his words.

“The…thing is…you’re the first person who smiled to me since I got to this town.”

Finally, he looked into her eyes, and a gentle smile slowly emerged there.

“It didn’t seem much, but it helped me out a lot. That’s why…_thanks_.”

Ann was speechless as her internal mind exploded into smithereens.

...

_...What a pure boy!?_ _Sweet little boy…poor soul…Oh my gosh. _

_My son!! You didn’t have to thank me! Oh dear son, you have a bright future ahead of you! My boy!_

_Don’t cry Ann. Bring it back. _

_Girl. Keep it together._

After spending several seconds quietly trying to holdback her tears, she took a deep breath and patted his head.

“There, there, Amamiya. You’re a good boy.”

Ren stared at her dumbfoundedly because of it, before bursting into laughter. She felt warm hearing it. It felt very nostalgic, and she was glad to hear it. Ann tried to push away her anxiety and worry of how she had changed the future from this small event—honestly, she didn’t regret it one bit seeing him so uplifted.

When they parted ways from Shibuya, and Ren finally arrived at Yongen Jaya, his hand reached to his head, where that cool hand had patted him. He let out a soft sigh, and as he left the station, it felt like there's a spring in his steps.


	3. This is Your Life Now

“Ka-mo-shi-da-sen-sei…”

It was dark in the evening. Only a few students left, practising spike. The female team was mostly disbanded for the day, so there was only one female student there, pouting unhappily, sticking to the older man, her finger playing on his sweaty chest.

“You’re not really letting that Suzui in our team riiight~? She sucked ass…It’s a pain in the ass too if we have to practice later just to let that pathetic girl play…” she whined.

“Come on, there’s no way I let that talentless brat in my winning team…” Kamoshida chuckled. “I was just trying to please her best friend. You know that, right? Hang in there a bit.”

“Jeez, sen-sei…” the student huffed, hands groping onto the older man’s crotch. “Don’t strain yourself trying to bang an ‘exotic’ model, okay?” she giggled and walked off to return home, leaving the teacher laughing.

Kamoshida licked his lips trying to calm himself from his frustrating libido as he grabbed his whistle.

“Alright, cool down time!”

~.X.~

Getting home, locking the door, putting things away. The family-size apartment was vast, yet Ann was the only person living in it. Since waking up in this form, it was surprisingly easy to adjust with this new life.

Ann put on some music as she stretched herself. Her body was so flexible—the perks of being a teenager. Perhaps it was muscle memory that helped her adjust so much? She couldn’t remember anything else from her past life aside of the game.

That only drove her to think that she had a purpose for being this way. She just didn’t understand why Takamaki Ann. Why not the Protagonist? She wouldn’t be too sure if she’d have it in her to change the flow of the game.

Another thing about living here, it felt like a loan, so she took extra care of her body and lifestyle. She even studied a bit more than the in-game Ann. Perhaps in her past life she was an adult. Not saying that she’s the brightest in studies, but she tried to make it a habit.

_Besides…thinking about the future, the end game all the time won’t make them come faster…_

As such, she distracted herself as much as she could when alone. Doing things like housework or planning her calorie intake. In game Ann wanted to be an international supermodel, so it couldn’t hurt to start now.

Also, in The Lovers Confidant Event, she’ll have a rival to cater to. She didn’t think it’ll be good to spend too much time with the Protagonist either. If he caught a whiff of something fishy about her, he might get in danger.

_Maybe he didn’t need Lovers Arcana either. It’s not like it’ll affect the end…_

Alone and with so much riding on her, assuming such huge responsibilities against fate, Ann always tired herself out, so that she could sleep without waking up from nightmares of ruining everything.

~.X.~

Suzui Shiho…Takamaki Ann’s best friend. Perhaps was her only friend, the only person who wouldn’t talk shit about her. However, _she_ was not exactly Ann. She’s anxious—she didn’t share in-game-Ann’s experience and bond with Shiho. If anyone could point out that Ann was strange, that would be Shiho, wouldn’t it?

The next day when lunchbreak came, she had to face Kamoshida who offered her to ‘relax’…probably at his place and he meant having sex. He was talking shit about the Protagonist…at a hearable distance from the teen too.

_Idiot_. Ann mentally sighed as she emptily stared at the lines of drinks in the vending machine.

It’s after school, which meant that the school’s club would be busy. The courtyard was quite empty at this time, and it seems that in the game, Ann was used to hang out with Shiho here after school.

_…But…this is too quiet_. She realized, looking around.

There was no one. No one around, not even students in the indoor hallway.

She heard a hum—a child’s voice.

“_Hnn~ Hnn~! You’re only a day away…”_

One machine away from her was a child, on his toe, trying to push a button of a drink that was out of his reach. He was humming a song.

“You need help, little one?” Ann asked, trying to distract herself from the surrealness of it.

The child had blond hair and dark silver-ish eyes, probably around 7 to 10 of age. He was only a head taller from her knees. He turned to her with gleaming eyes.

“Nn! I want that one.”

“The chocolate one?”

“Yup!”

Ann smiled and pressed the button as requested. He cheered when the drink fell off and rolled down to the bin. He drank and grinned, chocolate staining the top of his small lips.

“What are you doing here? Are you a teacher’s child? Are you lost?”

He looked up to her, and his smile turned into a devastated frown.

“…No.” he pouted and began to tear up. “No!”

Ann stepped back warily as he began to throw tantrum.

“No! no!” he threw the can into the ground, and blood spilled out of it. His scream got louder, like a ringing in her ears, and she was _scared_.

_“No! No! No! No! No!_”

“Ann?”

Ann gasped, flinching when someone gently put a hand on her shoulder—it was Shiho. She looked unhealthily pale….

The blonde turned around, not finding any puddle of blood nor a can of chocolate drink. No child.

There were students around, and there’s Shiho.

Her head was hurting…not unlike the headache she felt from entering Metaverse.

“You don’t look well.”

“You don’t look that hot yourself.” Ann forced a joke, and Shiho huffed, jokingly pinched her upper arm. “Is it break time? What did you have for lunch?”

This went off too differently than the game…Ann was planning to tell Shiho what was actually happening, but she felt too anxious right now.

“I ate some bread, I can’t have anything too heavy since I’m going for practice…”

“Right.” Ann tried to get a grip and swallowed the bile in her throat. “I need to talk to you about _that_. I’m worried of you…”

“Well, I’m more worried for _you_.” Shiho frowned slightly tilting her head. “The rumors…about you and Kamoshida, it’s been a while…but really, what was that about?”

“Yes, there’s a reason for that…that’s what I want to talk to you about, and—“ she shut her mouth noticing some students walking their way, and her phone vibrated in her pocket.

“Shouldn’t you get that?”

“No, that’s not important.”

“Suzui-san…” Ann shut her mouth again, as her classmate, Mishima Yuuki, meekly walked to them. “You’re being called…” he stuttered up, sensing her glare. “P-Practice is starting again. That’s all!”

He rushed away.

_How long had she been sitting out there!?_ The girls coming their way giggled as they excitedly rushed to get their drinks, sending her dirty glances as bonus.

Ann impatiently glared at them to walk away.

“Practice is starting.” Shiho pointed out.

“Wait, listen—this is very important.” Ann took a sharp breath, holding a hand onto Shiho’s shoulder.

Here it goes…

“The reason why there’s rumors about me and Kamoshida…it’s because I tried to get close to him—so that you get the starting spot on the team.”

_Slap_

Shiho stepped back after swatting Ann’s hand off of her shoulder. Eyes wide but the light died in them as a frown formed on her face. Her lips were hanging open in devastation and disbelief, but then…she forced a wry, weak smile.

“That’s not _funny_.” She breathed out.

“This is not a joke…I’m trying to be honest to you.” Ann said, “…Shiho, it’s not worth it. Even if I do sleep with him, he won’t put you in for the nationals. He’s just stringing you along—“

“_What do you mean sleep with him!?_” She suddenly snapped. “I don’t want to hear this.” Shiho’s nose flared, stepping further away from her. “I’m going to practice.”

Ann felt a drop in her guts, but she stepped forth. “Shiho, please, listen—I know you love volley, but this is not it. This isn’t making you happy—“

“Ann—you’re the last person I want to hear about this from—“ her voice trembled with tears that she’s holding back, “I don’t want to hear it…That’s not true. There’s no way it’s true. If it’s true, then what’s left of me!?”

There was a painful punch—psychological one—that landed in Ann’s gut. She couldn’t believe the words that left Shiho’s mouth.

A memory of the game rushed right into her mind…how Shiho said that volleyball was the only thing she’s good at.

_‘If I’m not even good at volleyball, then what else do I have!?’ _Was what probably Shiho thought.

“Shiho—“

“I’m going.” Shiho sharply said as she trodded away. Ann was disheartened to stop her, and she doubt that she could talk to the girl again anytime soon.

It felt horrible.

Even if she was not really Shiho’s friend, it felt like _shit_. Shiho denied it because she needed to protect herself…because she believed that she was nothing without volleyball.

_I made her defensive…I didn’t know that Shiho would be a stubborn character._

Shiho probably, to some extent, believed that Ann wouldn’t lie to her…which was why it hurt her even more.

_Did I do the right thing…?_

At that moment, it was getting harder and harder for her to keep acting as if all of this was just a game she had played in her past life…this is _her life_ now. She’s living in it. It didn’t matter whether she had experience with Shiho or not in real time. That was her friend just now…and she hurt her.

There was no save file. Even if there was, she’s not even the Protagonist.

And she couldn’t even share all of this burden to anyone. The Protagonist was held in prison by a deity that disguised himself as a game assistant called Igor, who was responsible for fusing and book keeping his Personas in compendium. Telling him about her knowledge of the game might put him in danger.

And this is the real life.

There’s no loading feature.

_Did I ruin everything? Was I supposed to just stay in line? Was everything that had happened in the game a ridiculous trails of fate that was unchangeable?_

_What was the point of me being here!?_

Ann took a sharp breath, trying not to panic.

_This isn’t about me._ She reminded herself, grabbed her bag and was ready to go home, only to be crossing path with the Protagonist again…

_It’s Ren. Not Protagonist. _

“Are you okay?” he asked casually, stepping aside to let her through the door. It seemed he had been watching over the whole thing.

“It didn’t go well.” She huffed, scratching her head with her fingertip. “I made it worse. She’s in denial now.”

“You were just being honest. She decided to stay that way. That’s not your fault.” Ren said, shaking his head. Ann disagreed, but she found no merit in debate at the time.

Quietly, they walked together to the entrance, already used to the glances and what-not directed at them not-so-subtly.

Ann stopped on her tracks. He stopped a few steps ahead, realizing it. Perhaps he was reminded of her doing it for him the other day.

“Ren…”

It was too scary. It wasn’t as easy as she thought it would be. She’s already fretting at this point—well how could she not be afraid?

_Someone’s going to commit suicide…and I know…and yet…I don’t know if I should stop it? Will I change things for the worse? What if I make it worse? What if I ruined Ren’s fate?_

“If you can see the future up to the end, and you see that someone is in danger…you’re going to help them right?”

Ren seemed a bit perplexed, perhaps because she blurted his first name. He turned to face her.

“Of course.”

“But what if…what if that person has to go through that danger, in order to reach the ideal end? What if that was the necessary thing to happen?”

The raven-haired permy frowned, shaking his head. “That’s no different than people who hurt others in their way and saying that they’re the sacrifice for a greater good.”

Ann flinched as she looked into his eyes.

“If someone is in immediate danger, I’ll help them. What comes next, I’ll worry when I cross that bridge. That’s why knowing the future is shitty. You’ll conform and let people hurt because you’d think it’ll be worth it in the end. But the people who were hurt, if they knew the future as well, it wouldn’t be fair—they’d fight against such a fate.”

She clenched her fists, chewing her lower lip in agitation. Taking a deep breath, she nodded to him with a grateful smile as they continued walking to the gate.

“Okay…thanks, R—I mean, Amamiya.”

“Really, are you in trouble?”

She shook her head. “Not me…and that’s Ryuji.” She noticed the fake-blond waiting by the gate, his presence being glaringly obvious.

_Right. They’re going to the Palace again._

~.X.~

“Yo.” Ryuji said, getting into their way with a serious look. “I know you said all that thing about _that asshole_ but…It still bugs me. That weird place and castle.”

In the game, it was clear that Ryuji wanted a way to get back at Kamoshida. But now he already knew that the volleyball team and everyone involved were in on it giving Kamoshida a pass for his atrocious behavior and abuse, so there was no reason in trying to find evidence. However, Ann herself was tempted to know if things would change again, and she wanted to know if it would be for the best.

“Let’s go there again.” Ryuji finally said what he wanted.

“Why?” Ren tilted his head. “It’s not really a crime if everyone’s consenting to this whole thing. It’s not like that douche hurt anyone fatally.”

“They’re scared, that’s why no one said anything, right!?” Ryuji snapped, and Ann cringed, glancing around, hoping no one heard them.

“Ssh, okay, okay, let’s go over there, not here!” Ann shushed the fake-blond and dragged the two boys to the alleyway.

“Anyways, look, it’s because they’re scared that no one said anything! If we do something—“

“I don’t see that.” Ren hummed, a hand on his chin. “If people are, as you say, scared to speak up because they’re oppressed, then that’s a helpless situation we might need to do something about. However, they’re all scared not because of that. They’re scared of losing a place where they belong.” He smiled wryly to Ryuji, who went speechless. “They don’t want to be an outcast…like me…or Takamaki-san…or maybe even you.”

The fake-blond grinded his teeth in frustration. “That’s no way to live.”

“There’s no reason to help those who refused to help themselves, who find no wrong in their current circumstances.” Ren shook his head. “I’m not the wisest guy, so I can’t tell what’s the right way to live.”

_If this keeps up, then we won’t go to the Palace, and Ryuji might not get his Persona!_ Ann was terrified in her silence upon realizing it. _I messed up again didn’t I!? I shouldn’t have told them about the rumors—they should have found out about it themselves, from Mishima!_

“Amamiya,” Ann finally braced herself to say, “Then, are you only going to help when someone get hurt?”

Ryuji was quiet, and he, who was about to conform to the logic, glanced to the raven-haired boy in anticipation.

“I’m worried about Shiho. And in reality even if something bad happened, there will be nothing we can do about it. But we found this world…we found Kamoshida’s palace…would it be a bad thing to know if it might come in handy, just in case? What if it became the only way to make justice?”

After hearing this, Ren let out a small sigh, scratching his nape.

“You think there’s a meaning to why we can enter such a world?”

“I…I can’t say. I don’t know if it means something.” Ann carefully treaded her words, “I’m just saying, _just in case_.”

Ren frowned at his shoe. He was quiet for a little, and then stared at Ann again, as if trying to read her mind, to no avail.

Ryuji lit up when the raven-haired permy pulled out his phone with a louder sigh.

“This isn’t a museum, and we’re all going to be in danger, so just stick closely behind me. That’s all I ask. If none of you can do this much, then forget it.” He sternly said, out of his concern of their safety.

To Ann’s relief, they finally go to the Metaverse again.


	4. Down, down, down

They met again with Morgana, who seemed to be waiting for them. The cat offered to be their guide in the palace, while muttering to himself that Ren might be someone useful for his own quest.

He explained the basics of infiltration and thievery. They got into the castle through the vent again.

Once in a while when they entered a corridor, Ren would stop for a bit and walk over to certain ornaments like volleyball in a shelf. He swiped it and the thing turned into bits of gems.

“How do you even know that’s _this_?” Ryuji gawked in fascination.

“I just know.” Ren shrugged. “Come on. While we’re here, might as well grab stuff. Takamaki, don’t lag behind.” He warned.

_He got the Third-Eye skill already._

In the game, Ann was not supposed to be here. There wasn’t even anything they needed to see. Even when they arrived at the dungeons where the cognitive-students were tortured with deadly practice regime, Ryuji could only grit his teeth. Ren and Morgana fluently snuck behind corners and turn to take out shadows as they went, and the more distance they went through, the more pleased Morgana with his poise.

“How do you even know how to fight and move like that?” Ryuji huffed after they finished off some more shadows.

“It’s the Persona.” Morgana said. “A Persona can lend you powers not only in physical form, but also psyche. I think this is a saferoom we can use.”

“Huh. So that’s why you don’t seem so dorkly in here.” Ann said, causing Ryuji to cackle, and Ren huffing with his arms crossed, entering the saferoom last.

“I see, so I am dorkly to you, Takamaki.”

“Now, now, dorks can be cute too.” Ann waved dismissively. “We saw those students getting beat up brutally here, but that was all Kamoshida’s hyperbolic cognition, right? And even they themselves said that they chose to stay in those prison because…they don’t want to be like us.”

Ryuji clicked his tongue. “This is all messed up. But so, they’re not the real people. They’re what the bastard imagined to be, right? What about his shadow then? That cringey ‘king’?”

“Good question for once, Ryuji. That shadow is his true self that he hid from his real life. It’s not his real physical form that you see in the real world, but it’s his personified psyche.”

“Nice. I don’t get it.”

“Personified…Oh, like his mental, but as a person.” Ann said, nodding to herself. “Ryuji, you know that anime where there were countries being drawn as people? So that shadow was like Kamoshida’s dream drawn as a person.”

“As brilliant as always, Lady Ann! I don’t know what anime is but that’s roughly it. But it’s not his _dream_, per se. It’s his inner self.”

“Oh, that I can get around.” Ryuji hummed. “Sometimes we gotta fake and keep our head down to fit in, but we don’t really mean it, right? So the honest part of Kamoshida was this shadow, then?”

_Oh. My lord. Ryuji spoke sense!_

“Sakamoto.” Ren seemed very impressed that he had to give the thug a pat. “You’ve grown so much.”

“Shaddup! I just hate complicated words! I ain’t that stupid.”

“I think it’s thanks to Lady Ann for explaining it so simply for his too simple-of-a-brain.” Morgana nodded proudly on her behalf.

“I am not flattered.” Ann sighed.

~.X.~

They took their time there, spending several minutes in silence. It was strange how comfortable it was. Except for her…half of her mind was still filled with worry. Unlike the other three, she was not the real Ann. She’s a fake. She didn’t belong here. She’s a bigger misfit compared to Morgana.

Ann racked her brain on how to break the conversation regarding Kamoshida’s shadow…but luckily, Ren spoke first.

“That shadow of Kamoshida…it’s his true self, right? So what happen if we hurt it?”

“Brilliant question!” Morgana cheered and jumped onto the table. “Your inner self is similar to your psyche or your mentality. So if you harm it, you might get mental pain like anxiety or depression. If you destroy it, then…well…the person in real life might lost their mind.”

“You mean…wait, isn’t that what happened to the people in that train accident case?” Ann hinted. Though she already knew it wasn’t it.

“I’m not familiar with that, but I can’t say for sure. There’s also this thing that hold up this Palace together, and it’s called the _Treasure_.” Morgana continued before Ryuji could mock him. “It represents their deepest, distorted desire in their heart that built this very Castle.”

“So that Treasure was here? If you say that it built this castle, then if it’s gone, this castle might go down.” Ren concluded.

“Maybe.” Morgana shrugged. “It’s just logical. Also, since as I’ve said, the Treasure represents their heart, maybe stealing it might also cause complete shutdown on the real owner. Without desire, you can’t live. You’ll have no desire to eat or sleep. That’s a mental breakdown. And one can die from it.”

Once it was said, Ryuji flinched with a wary look on his face.

“Shit…that’s fucked up.” He gulped, shaking his head. “I…I guess I kinda get it now that it hits me. Ren, you’re right…He’s just an asshole, and everyone at school consented to this…as much as I hate him, I don’t really want him to die.” He admitted.

“Him dying won’t resolve anything.” Ann huffed. “But well, at least we learned something!”

“So you’re all satisfied?” Ren smirked when the two nodded. “Then, let’s get out of here.”

~.X.~

They stealthily headed for the front entrance. Ann was slightly glad that things had gone quite close according to the plot, but what happens after this would make-or-break-it. Will Ryuji awaken to his Persona, despite his understanding of Kamoshida’s assholery?

“Alright, I think we’re close. You two need to keep up.” Ren said calmly as he oversaw the next corridor. “Sakamoto, if you don’t mind…why did you get so fired up on Kamoshida?”

“Eh, me?” Ryuji felt his mouth dry.

“I think the coast is clear.” Morgana quipped before Ryuji could find the words.

“Alright. We run straight out.” Ren said. “Tell me later, Sakamoto.”

However, he didn’t realize that Ann had stopped on her track.

_“The sun will come out tomorrow…so ya gotta hang on…til tomorrow…_”

That singing again.

Ann turned to look behind her, and there was that kid again, running across the corridor to a different turn.

“_Come what may~”_ he sang loudly.

“Guys, you hear that?” Ann asked, turning to her friends, only to find no one.

…

Not even a path that was so wide in front of her just then. She blinked as her heart was starting to thump painfully in her ribs.

_What is this_?_ Who is that kid?_

She wasn’t sure where to go. Even the layout of this place seemed different. If she waited there…would anyone even realize that she’s gone? Could anyone even able to find her?

Gulping, Ann decided that standing still wouldn’t result in anything. So she followed the familiar song, sang by the boy.

She found him prancing in a circle, chasing a blue butterfly.

_Isn’t that the thing from the Velvet Room? Or was it? _

“Hello again,” Ann braced herself to call the little boy, who stopped to turn at her. His eyes widen, and then pouted. The butterfly fled away and disappeared.

“Meanie!” he said, pointing at her.

“I’m sorry…” she apologized, not knowing what she did wrong, but she felt bad.

It was scary to think if this child went horror-mode on her again, so she wouldn’t ask much questions.

“A-Are you having fun?”

“Uh-huh! Philemon’s nice, mom!” he grinned brightly, and Ann was stopped struck in her spot.

_Mom!? WHAT!?_

He hummed, looking around him and pursed his lips cutely. “Philemon’s gone.”

_The butterfly’s called Philemon? Not Lavenza??_

The boy skipped towards her and cheerfully pulled her by the hand.

“Let’s go mom! Let’s go? Let’s go~! I’m bored!”

Ann laughed nervously and kneeled to reach his line of sight.

“Um, listen. I’m not your mom, okay? I’m Ann. What’s your name? Where’s your mom?”

The boy’s eyes widened again in that eerily devastating fashion. His small frame trembled, as were his lips as he mumbled out;

“N…Not my mom…? Mom….you….you don’t want me…?”

Ann felt a cold drop trailing down her spine when blood emerged from the corner of his eyes, trailing down his pale cheeks like red pearls.

“Um…um…” she could feel herself shaking in fright.

“You hate me…you hate me…hahaha…” he dejectedly hung his head down, making blood dropping on the carpet. “Mom…is that why? Is that why?”

“Why…why what…?” Ann’s breath shortened as she tried to move away, but the child’s small hands grabbed onto the collar of her varsity jacket. He began to pant and sob, as if finding difficulty to breathe.

Suddenly, an eerie silence engulfed them. Ann wanted to look away but she was frozen entirely and was forced to see as the terrifying child raised his face back to her.

His eyes melted out of his sockets and maggots crawled out of them, causing her to drop her own tears voicelessly.

“Is that why…you left me to die?”

Ann felt as if she was being stabbed by her own heart’s pounding. The organ went berserk as if trying to break out of her ribcages—she didn’t know whether it was fear or sadness that crawled up on her spine hearing the child’s words.

“No…I…I don’t know! I don’t know what happened!”

She found it hard to breathe all of a sudden.

“You…you’re my mom…you should’ve died for me!” he giggled, teeth falling off as he leaned his creepy face even closer to hers. “Die for me, _die for me, die for me, die for me, die for me, die for me—“_

“NO!” Ann cried as she kicked the child away and crawled to her feet, escaping.

“_YOU SHOULD’VE DIED FOR ME!_” the child roared in wrath, but Ann shut her eyes as she ran desperately, anywhere, just not near that child.

_What’s going on!? What is this!? This wasn’t in the game!_

“Takamaki!” Ryuji’s voice rang across a vast room, and Ann realized that she was back with them, but she could still hear the ringing screech. “Where the _fuck_ did you go!? Hey! Why are you running!?”

“What the hell is that!?” Morgana shrieked, and Ann realized the child was still following her.

She dashed, despite her lungs were hurting.

“_Mommy, mommy, mooommyyyyy!_” he sang despite his lips unmoving, and each of his steps dripped blood.

“Why is it calling you mom!?” Ryuji voiced out the least important detail of the moment.

Ren took a deep breath and then exhaled as he conjured Arsene who fled above to drag him and kick off the eerie child.

“Ngh,” he landed and glared at where the child landed—but it disintegrated into darkness, leaving only a trail of childish giggles. He grabbed Ann by the shoulder to stop her from running.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m—“

“Takamaki—_Takamaki, you’re fine!_ It’s fine, it’s fine. It’s me, Amamiya.” She kept struggling with her eyes shut, so in desperation, he engulfed her with his arms tightly. “_Takamaki!_” he shouted once again.

Ann panted and sobbed miserably in his chest. Ryuji and Morgana awkwardly stood a few feet away, half-scared, half-worried.

“It’s gone…was that also a shadow?” Ryuji asked, trying to look around just in case.

“Kinda…” Morgana uncertainly muttered.

“_What do you mean _kinda_!?” _Ryuji clicked his tongue. “What happened though? She just disappeared, and then she ran like that being chased by some creepy ghost kid…I thought she was right behind me!”

Ren cooed the girl, who seemed to have returned to her senses, albeit still shocked. Patiently, he patted her back. Ann had a hard time getting out of her own frazzlement.

The sight of that kid’s face kept flashing in her mind, but her heart was anxious of a different emotion. She was unreasonably hurt, rather than scared or disgusted.

_Was that kid…a warning sign? Because I messed the plot…? Or was that kid from my past life? _

“Well, well, well.” An irritating voice echoed in the room.

Ann then realized that they were stopping and making commotion at the front hall, instead of running out to the entrance.

_It’s just like in the game._

“Not only you snoop around my place, you knaves brought a fake to _my _castle to steal _my_ princess.” Kamoshida’s shadow huffed with an obnoxious smirk on his face, glancing at Ann.

“Your princess!? Hah!” Ryuji spat, “The school ain’t your castle! And what the hell do you mean by fake!?”

Ann was abruptly pushed to stand close behind Ren as he stood on his stance, warily glaring at the faux king and his guards. It didn’t look good…it looked even worse than in the game. That knight by Kamoshida seemed menacing.

“My, my. Look at you, Sakamoto. Always repeating the same dumb things, even though those righteous words of yours dropped you off the track team.” He mockingly sighed, “It’s like talking to a chihuahua.”

At the mention of track team, Ryuji was much more agitated, fists clenched hard.

“The hell you’re getting at…” he grimly said through his teeth.

“Well, I speak of the ‘track traitor’. Violent arse who ruined his teammates’ dreams.” He chuckled, “_Aaaall because of your violent, selfish, self-righteous act_.”

Ren glanced at Ryuji demandingly. “Violent?”

This only caused Kamoshida’s smug face to grow into an impossibly more obnoxious look, as if swallowing a bird.

“You’re friends with this idiot without even knowing what he did? Hilarious! Better watch out, he’s one to betray his friends and act like nothing was wrong! Some backstabbing brat, am I right?”

“That’s not true.” Ryuji hissed, though he flinched all the same. The guilt was eating him.

“Well, unfortunately, before he could even betray you, you’re going to die. A deserving end, your fault as well for choosing the wrong side.” Kamoshida shrugged, shaking his head, before turning away with a flair of his gaudy royal coat.

“Kill them all, and be clean.” He commanded.

“At once!” the knight in gold raised his sword and ordered the guards to combust into their true form.

Soon, an army of bicorns surrounded them.

It was even worse than the game, because instead of three to four shadows, the number of guards combusting into shadows around them were absurd. They’re _visually surrounded_.

“Move it, Ryuji!” Morgana shouted as he and Ren jumped into battle.

“Go for the exit!” Ren commanded to them, but it was just impossible.

“Damn.” Ann huffed, grabbing onto Ryuji’s hand, not finding a way out as more guards were approaching them.

“S-Stay close!” Ryuji said as he dragged her to distance themselves from the guards, but now they’re right in the middle of the enemies. “Damn it…Takamaki…I’m sorry. I…It’s my fault that we’re here.”

“It’s not, I am partial to it.” Ann said dismissively. “This is no time to feel bad! Ren and Morgana are still fighting!”

“But what am I supposed to do!?”

“Nothing.” The guards cackled at them as they grabbed them roughly and apprehended them with their arms behind their back.

Ann didn’t know what to do either, but before she could think of something, they could hear screams from the central of the battle. She could only leave it to fate at this point. The two of them were forced to see where Morgana and Ren were on the ground, their head being stomped.

“Look what you did, Sakamoto.” Kamoshida scoffed, stomping onto Morgana. “You got even more people endangered because of your stupid whims. What a worthless piece of trash, getting emotional so quickly…” he raised his chin up as if he could look down on Ryuji even more, “…This is what you get for raising your hand at me.”

“I was only being kind by supervising the track practice, and you went done stab me in the back!”

Ryuji groaned, trying to break free off the guards. “What fucking practice!? You abused us! You didn’t like our team!”

Ann was nervous for a different reason at the moment as she watched the scene unfolded.

_Ryuji’s background story!_

“Admittedly, you _were_ an eyesore. How dare you being a star runner, Sakamoto. You don’t need to bring pride to Shujin. I should be the only one to achieve results!” he scoffed, flicking his hair. “Your dumbass coach too, getting smart at me like that. I would’ve settled by breaking your leg, but he just had to speak? He deserved the boots.”

As those words rang in the room, Ryuji’s struggles stopped. It seemed as if a low blow hit him in the guts, as his knees fell to the ground. The sneer on Kamoshida’s face grew more impossibly disgusting as seconds passed.

“That’s right, Sakamoto. It’s all your fault! Your fault that your leg got broken. Your fault that your coach got fired. Your fault that the track team got disbanded.”

“I call bullshit—ugghp—“ Ren’s retort was quickly silenced as the guard pressed down on his head further.

“Sakamoto!” Ann hissed through her teeth.

Ryuji was trembling.

“It’s…it’s my fault again…?”

“Yes. It’s your fault. Now your friends here are going to die…and it’ll also be your fault.” Kamoshida sighed, shaking his head. “Hahahaha! Too bad for you poor sods!”

“Ryuji, snap out of it!” Morgana shouted.

“It’s not your fault!” Ann yelled, “Get a grip!”

“Hey!” Ren grunted, finding the last bits of his strength to get his face out and breathed out loudly; “Who cares whose fault it is! Stand up for yourself!”

Ryuji flinched.

“You can’t let this asshole win over you—acck!” Ann grunted as the hold on her wrists tightened painfully.

“You got nothing—ngh—to lose anymore, don’t you!?”

“If you’re just staying there and watch I’ll haunt you, Ryuji!”

Ryuji grunted through his frustration. “Goddammit…you’re right…he took everything from me and I won’t ever getting them back…”

“Right you are, right you are.” Kamoshida clapped his hands. “Just like always, just enjoy as people hurt for a trash like you, Sakamoto….hahahahahaha!”

“No,” Ryuji coldly said, “That’s you.” His body tensed, it seems a surge of power had overcome inside of him that the guards holding onto him flinched.

“I’m not blameless. But I didn’t lie. I’m not the one always thinking on how to use people. I’m _not the scumbag that you are, Kamoshida!!_”

As if an electricity emerged from him, the guards jolted as if shocked and couldn’t hold on to him in their pain. Seeing this, Kamoshida’s smugness disappeared into a glare.

“What are you doing!? Silence him—“

“Stop looking down on me with your dumbass mug, goddammit!” Ryuji roared as his eyes gleamed gold.

An electrical impact surged from around him, blasting the guards away from them, Ann felt her knees like jelly as the guards flinched away from holding her. Strangely enough, the elecrtical zing didn’t feel painful on her—and it seemed to be the same case with Ren and Morgana. It’s like a warm and reassuring tinge on her skin.

_It’s here!_

As if a giant nail had been pounded onto his head, Ryuji gasped in pain. The gasp turned into a hysterical groan, both of his hands clamping onto his head as if trying to squish it into burst.

The pain seemed so intense, Ann couldn’t even imagine it as Ryuji began to scream and squirm on the carpeted ground. It was far more frightening than seeing it in the game—

Through his pain, Ryuji grunted and tried to get on his knees.

And then he raised his face with a flare of flame bursting, revealing the skull mask on his face.

Ann mentally wheeze.

_Shit. That looks intense!_

And soon, Captain Kidd emerged in all his glory, sailing through them all like a thunderous storm.


	5. A Helping Hand

…

…

…

Finally out of the castle at a good distance, they stopped to catch their breath. Ann was checking out Ryuji’s new outfit. It was almost as cool—okay fine it was cool! Just a different genre than Ren’s. Punk rock? If not for the skull mask there’d be no connection to Captain Kidd, but still cool nonetheless.

“Anyways, that fake-Ann stuff was pretty whack.” Ryuji huffed, carefully patting his weak knee.

“Perverted fucking bastard.” Ren grumbled through his gritted teeth, much more menacing than how Ryuji said it yesterday. He then glanced at Ann, up and down.

Ann looked down on her own busts. Honestly? Kamoshida was quite a modest man if that fake-Ann was what he thought out.

“Do you really look like that? Ow—” Ren blurted out, getting punched in the shin by Morgana.

“I don’t think I’ve worn that two pieces, since I’m only featured in teen magazines.” Ann said her thoughts out loud. That reminded her that she _did _have a modelling part-time to tend to.

“Lady Ann! Don’t indulge him!” Morgana protested.

“Anyways…you guys seemed like you’d keel over.” Ann commented in concern, seeing Ryuji was starting to doze off where he stood.

“You look good in that by the way.” Ren nodded to the fake-blond’s outfit.

“Oh man. You right, when did _this_ happen?” Ryuji pulled onto his collar, and then looked at Ren’s outfit. “Much better than yours.”

Ren seemed to be actually offended by this. “_Excuse me?_”

Ann couldn’t help but giggle at their exchange. It was too much of an eventful day, she didn’t even know where to start unraveling it. So many questions but at the same time she was glad that Ryuji got his power. Perhaps she didn’t mess up too much…

Before she was drowning in her own worries again, the cat-like creature clapped his paws to gain attention.

“Enough of this stupid charade.” Morgana huffed. “Now, I need you guys to help _me_ out on _my_ quest, as promised.”

The three of them merely blink at the surreal cat.

“Promise?” Ryuji frowned. “Dude, I’m like, gonna sleep—_right here_.”

“You promised to help me to erase the distortion on me, remember? That’s why I agreed to show you the ropes nicely!”

Ren hummed, hand on his chin. “I didn’t remember promising anything. Did I promise anything, Takamaki?”

Ann frowned apologetically to Morgana and squatted down to pet the cat.

“He really didn’t, Morgana.”

“Huh!?” the cat gawked at her. “B-But aren’t you going to repay my kindness!?” he glared at Ren; “And especially _you_! You’re part of my master plan, and you’re ditching!?”

The raven raised both his hands. “Never heard of it.”

“You think because I’m like this, you’re fooling me!?” Morgana began to fume.

Ryuji, too tired to fight, huffed. “Look, we’re busy, man.” He also bent down like Ann to shake Morgana’s paw. “Thanks for everything. You got guts being this tiny. Best of luck, dude.”

“Now then.” As if he’s done enough work, he turned on his heels. Ren followed suit, gracefully waving a hand.

“Thanks, Morgana!” Ann added and kissed the cat on top of his head before she also ditched.

“HhhhhhHHHH!?” Morgana, dumbstruck by the burning contact, stood there and could only watch them leave until they were far enough that they couldn’t hear him screaming bloody murder.

Up top, they’ve spent several hours in that other world. When they got out, the sun was setting. Ann was so tired she couldn’t remember how she got home, but she dipped into her soft bed and blacked out. She woke up in the middle of the night to clean up, before dragging herself back to sleep.

~.X.~

Another day arrived.

Her thoughts drowned her from the buzzing crowd of the station that morning.

So many worries and questions in her mind, jumbling just like the people walking around, always fast-paced as if not wanting to hinder anyone or taking up too much public space. Ringing sound, announcer voices, whisperings and laughters. If she could remember her past life, she wondered if it was similar to this?

“Excuse me,”

And that child. Will he appear again? Who was he? Why?

“Hello?”

Why’d that child say such things to her? Was he someone related to her past life?

“Um, miss!”

Could it actually be _her_ child from her past life?

“EXCUSE ME!”

A gloved hand abruptly grabbed her by the shoulder and dragged her backwards, simultaneously pulling Ann out of the well of her mind—and she finally realized that she had walked past the yellow line.

She flinched as a train passed swiftly right in front of her.

“Hey, are you alright?”

Ann turned to look, and it was someone she never expected to see this soon.

“You seem _very_ out of it. Are you anemic?” refreshing, light voice, slightly long light brown hair, slender and dressed all too neatly.

_Akechi Goro?_

“Ah!” Ann stepped sideways. “I am so sorry…thank you for stopping me! I guess I am, out of it.” She felt her heart was rapidly beating. “Again, thank you very much! Um. I’ll pay more attention next time. Very sorry.”

“It’s alright, I’m glad you’re okay.” Akechi shook his head when seeing her bow to him. “There’s been some mental breakdown cases lately, I was worried that it got to you as well. Drink more water and eat properly to stay alert. Now then.”

He gave her that all-too-familiar billion dollar smile and a tilt of his head before walking away.

Ann realized how ironic that he’d say that, considering he’s the cause of those ‘cases’ that happened lately. How broken a person could be, that one became so remorseless?

But it’s undeniable that he’s quite cute. A different type of cute from Ren. One was the naughty bad boy cute, and the other was the prince charming cute. She couldn’t help but be reminded of a scene in the game, where Akechi sounded a wishful thinking for he and Ren to have been introduced earlier to each other.

Perhaps they could’ve been friends…

_Or even lover_!? Ann flinched, biting her fingernail as a rush of adrenaline filled her brain.

_If Akechi falls in love for Ren, the void in his heart would disappear and he’d be on a good start for rehab!_

_Wait, the game didn’t have gay option…tch, those queer-baiting developers!_

In many fictional works, bromance had numerously saved the world. Look at Ryuji; even Ren might have improved that guy’s intelligence by several digits. And, it’s safer if Ren was more involved than a side character like _her_ to do possibly fatal things towards the fate of the world.

Ann shook her head and patted her own cheeks.

_This isn’t the time for that. I gotta fix things with Shiho first_.

~.X.~

As today was the volleyball ralley—_aka Kamoshida self-promo session_—classes were off. Unlike in the game where she sat in the sidelines to watch it, Ann joined Ryuji and Ren leaning to the wall.

She tried to approach Shiho, but that girl was fast, and the girl team were giving her dirty looks. So there, she just sat there hugging her knees with a bored look—that was close to vomitting, as she remembered the in-game scenes where Kamoshida was doing spikes.

“So how’s it with Shiho?” Ryuji asked, also bored to death.

“Didn’t even read my chat or took my calls.” Ann huffed. “Is this what it feels like on the verge of breaking up with your girlfriend?”

“Never had one, so beats me.”

“Wasn’t asking anyone.”

Ren leaned himsef lower so that he could appear in her sight better. He seemed concerned.

“You should try again.”

Ann nodded quietly, but she just didn’t know how. She didn’t want to mess things further. What would Ann do in this predicament? Surely they’d have an even bigger fight. Ann might cry her eyes out and begged Shiho to stop coming for practice.

“The boys’ rally is going to be over soon.” She nodded to the clock on the high wall. “What are you guys up to?”

The boys exchanged stares, before returning to Ann, who was starting to think that they’re so brotherly that way, it’s cute. Ryuji spoke first.

“That kid the other day, you don’t happen to know him, right?”

Ann felt a similar sensation to being splashed with cold water—she totally forgot about that strange, horror child she had been seeing since two days ago. Technically, she didn’t know, so she shook her head.

“It’s strange how he called you his mother.” Ren commented. “Maybe that was just a random Shadow.”

Ann nearly said something about it, but then quickly turned away. She couldn’t just come out and say ‘Ah no, there’s no Shadow like that in this game’…Possibility of it exists, just, in her memory of the game, she hadn’t seen one like it.

_And, not to mention, that child appeared outside of the Metaverse_.

BLAM!

The crowd ceased the instant a spike ran straight into one of the player’s face. Ann remembered this scene—Mishima Yuuki was down as the huge hard ball fell and rolled towards Ryuji. Before she could stop herself, she’s already on her feet to run to her classmate.

“Hey! You okay?” Ann tried to help him sit up, hearing a groan.

“So sorry about that! Medic!” Kamoshida called out as he went below the net to grab Mishima by the arm and help him stand. The teacher grinned at Ann. “Always so nice, Takamaki.”

Ann gave the teacher a polite smile. “I’ll go help Mishima.” She said, following the other students tending as medic team and left the indoor court.

~.X.~

The medic members returned to indoor gym after letting Mishima lie down with compress on his face. Ann stayed behind. The silence was awkward between them, and Mishima clearly was hiding a tremendous guilt—of which Ann already knew.

_He was the one who leaked Ren’s record…and Kamoshida had him call Shiho for god-knows-what._

“Are you feeling better? You can use some painkiller.” Ann offered casually, and he flinched.

They probably had never talked to each other before.

“Um…thanks, Takamaki. I’d like some please.” He meekly said, cringing from pain. Not only his face, the bruises from other days didn’t look any less painful. Ann went to the cabinets and get some painkiller when the infirmary door slid open.

“You took so long.” Ryuji said, walking in ahead of Ren, who closed the door behind them.

Ann grinned. “Whaat? Are we that kind of friends now? Losers stick together?”

Ren chuckled at her quote, but then the boys quietly gazed at Mishima, who was nursing his face and curiously peeking from behind the compress. It seems the Protagonist noticed Mishima’s guilt-ridden gaze.

“Was it worth it?” Ryuji frankly asked.

“H-Huh?”

“Sacrificing your dignity to join the hype and let yourself be a punching bag.” The fake blond said, taking a seat next to Mishima on the mattress. He passed the painkiller that Ann extended. Ren filled a glass with water on the stand and offered it to Mishima, who speechlessly accepted it.

“Careful when taking it.” He reminded his classmate.

Mishima stared at the pill in his hand, vision starting to blur. He swallowed the bile before drinking the medicine and washed it with water. Even still, his tears spilled.

“Oh and selling out someone’s reputation to join that hype. Did it feel good?” Ann finally added, arms crossed. Her tone was calm, and she personally had no anger for Mishima. Only pity.

Mishima was just quiet as he wept silently, trying in vain to wipe his face.

“Dude…” Ryuji sighed, reaching for tissue from the stand.

They just quietly stayed there until Mishima cried everything out. It took a bit until he could let himself out, realizing that they were staying for him. After he could breathe normally, he crumpled the tissues in his hand, turning to Ann.

“What do you mean losers? You guys are way cooler than me…I’m just a nobody. Even if nobody here respect you guys, you still come to school with your head held high…”

“Wanna switch places?” Ren sarcastically offered. “I prefer disintegrating into background, but now I’m like some sort of cruel beast. A pretty great way to be popular in school.”

“Um…th-that’s…” for a moment, Mishima had forgotten what he’d done to Ren. “I’m sorry.”

“It doesn’t matter if you join the popular kids, with that attitude you’ll still be _Kuuki_.” Ryuji joked, but that joking insult made the boy flinched.

_Oh…right, Mishima had already gone through that since middle school…_

Ann sighed and pulled a seat in front of Mishima. “You’re like Shiho, somewhat. You’re not _nothing_, you know? And even if everyone else think that way about you, why care? That’s how you become cool.”

“Ta…Takamaki-san…!” Mishima squeaked, devastated. “I…I’m a coward…”

He had such a bitter look as he said that, not to anyone, but to himself. Mishima let out bitter tears, ugly, big tears. Probably ones he had been holding back for a long time, but who could say.

_There’s a lot of people who are hurt…and it feels worse actually seeing them. _Ann thought to herself bitterly. _This isn’t a game._

It didn’t take long until Mishima calmed down and was able to breathe normally. He realized the others were playing online UNO quietly, and Amamiya noticed him staring, he casually offered if he’d like to join. They didn’t seem to be making a big deal of him, but they were not shunning him out either.

“Aren’t you guys angry at me?” Mishima braced himself to ask, tapping on a yellow two at his turn.

“I can’t say about Amamiya…but I dunno if you did anything bad, Mishima.”

“I’m not that angry either. It’s not much difference to me, honestly.” Ren sheepishly chuckled, and then gasped, eyes wide on his phone; “Takamaki! Did you just plus-four’d me!?”

“I didn’t~” Ann pointlessly lied. “Well at least you understand you did something bad, Mishima. Do you know what to do next?”

Mishima set down his phone and then did a sitting dogeza on the mattress towards Ren.

“I am…very sorry, Amamiya-san. I did a shameful thing…I’m more angry at myself honestly…” despite the frown on his face, the kid looked less gloomy than ever. “I…I’m not proud. Maybe that’s why I still feel terrible joining the team.”

Ren stared at him quietly, and then nodded before adding a 4+ on his phone. “That’s your punishment, Mishima.”

“Oh…” Mishima blinked, and then stared at his phone again, before tapping a 4+ on his own screen.

Ryuji slammed his phone onto the mattress.

“Screw this! Dammit, dude, I trusted you, Mishima!”

Everyone laughed at Ryuji’s petty outburst, and Mishima felt as if the weigh in his heart was slightly taken off.


	6. Heartfelt Cry

“Oh look, it’s that Gyaru.”

“Is she? She’s Gyaru?”

“Either way she’s totally begging for attention. I heard that she stole the guy Miwa-chan likes!”

“Uwahh…that’s the worst! Right, Shiho-chan?”

Gyaru…depending how it’s used, just now it was used as a slur for naughty girls who bleached and dyed their hair. However, to Suzui Shiho, it never really fit the lonesome girl sitting at the back of their class.

She thought the girl was beautiful. A foreign, western beauty. Those blonde fluffs looked too soft to be bleached. Even being lonesome and gloomy, she’s still beautiful.

_I wonder how beautiful she’ll be if she smiles_.

It was a bit awkward for her to just come up and talk to her. Shiho didn’t really care about rumors or what people think about others…Although she could care a lot about what people think about herself, she made sure to judge others by her own terms.

So she observed.

Takamaki Ann was nice. But she was cornered. Only guys would talk to her because girls shun her out—and because she only talked to guys, girls hated her more. She’s in a losing position no matter what.

Takamaki Ann was lonely. She knew that the boys sometimes talk about her like an object, but at least she could talk to anyone.

Takamaki Ann was strong. Even if girls wouldn’t pair up with her during P.E., she’d just honestly raised her hand to say that she’s alone and practice with teacher. She didn’t flinch when she got called the last during group assignment.

…

She’s also terrible at painting.

“What the heck is this supposed to be?” Shiho blurted out with eyes narrowed at the unidentified thing carved on the paper. “Takamaki-san, your painting sucks.”

“…..”

“You can’t be seriously submitting these! Phhfft…”

“…Pffhhht…they do suck!”

She’s also honest to boot and she’s the type of person who could laugh at herself.

The more and more Shiho got to know Ann, the more she thought ‘Ahh, all of you guys missed something amazing!’

Shiho admired Ann, who was the kind of person that didn’t take herself seriously. Who knew she’s pretty but couldn’t purposefully charm people—who naturally charms anyone with her kindness. Who loved cream-filled crepes so much she’d have this silly dopey heart-shaped smile when they got them in Shibuya. 

_I wish I can be like that_…

They only had each other in Shujin. But it got Shiho thinking, a lot. Maybe if she’s stronger…if she’s _someone_ respectable, she could be as strong as her. Maybe if she’s _someone_. Then she’ll be respected—and then they would never pick on Ann ever again. They’ll shut up with the bad things on Ann. If she’s strong enough, she could dare anyone to badmouth Ann, and those people would shut up.

_Volley is my only chance_. Popularity, pride, honor and respect. It’s meant for her. That’s why Shujin was popular with their volley team. It’s how she could be stronger!

So she endured. Those spikes flying to her limbs. She endured the creeping hands disguising themselves as ‘guides’ to fix her posture. Sometimes she made herself believe that she actually got stronger for enduring it all.

Sometimes though, perhaps she was just doing it for herself. And that’s alright.

And yet…

_“The reason why there’s rumors about me and Kamoshida…it’s because I tried to get close to him—so that you get the starting spot on the team.”_

…

And yet, Ann never thought about herself. Always putting _her_ first. Letting herself be the bottom of the joke. Smiling as if she didn’t give a damn.

But Shiho knew, Ann hated school. She’s just so lonely that she stayed at Shujin because _she_’s there.

“Idiot.”

Shiho angrily spiked down the serve coming her way.

_STUPID IDIOT!_

~.X.~

“Mishima, did you leak my number?”

“Uhm? No…though I do know how to get it…” Mishima seemed as if he realized why she asked; “Don’t tell me…did _he_…?”

“Oh, no, no, don’t mind it!”

_It wasn’t Mishima! That means…_

In the game, Kamoshida got her number and called for the girl to ‘hangout’ after school.

_Maybe if he didn’t get my number…_

As she paced quickly to the second floor, she nearly ran into someone.

“No running in the hallways!”

“So-sorry—Ah! Niijima-senpai!” Ann quickly grabbed ahold of the slim figure that nearly ran into her. And what coincidence, she’s hodling a bulk of class roster of the second years in her arms.

“What is it?” the brunette sharply asked, “I am being called right now. Make it quick.”

“Are you being called by Kamoshida-sensei?” Ann quickly asked.

She seemed to hit the right spot, because the fierceness in the senior’s gaze faltered.

“And what if that’s the case?”

Ann held onto Niijima Makoto’s wrist as she turned to fully face her.

“Please…please don’t tell him my number, if he asks at all.”

She noticed the way the brunette’s fingers squeezed onto the roster in her arm. Her auburn gaze at the blonde, as if contemplating. She opened her lips and chose her words carefully, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

“What would you want me to say, if that’s the case.”

_Ah…I knew it, she’s kind!_ Ann smiled gratefully.

“If—If possible, have it changed. Is it possible to be done now?”

Makoto frowned. “No…I’m sorry, but this was printed. What’s wrong? Kamoshida-sensei is…a good teacher. Did you have any problem in his class?”

Ann gazed at the girl. She’s older, slightly shorter, and seemed sharp witted, but Ann couldn’t tell if she’s feigning innocence, playing a mind game, or just completely clueless. Even in the game, Ann couldn’t tell if Makoto really didn’t know Kamoshida’s wrongdoing or just looking away from the truth for her own sake.

_It’s sink or swim_.

“You know that’s not true for most people.” She held the older girl’s gaze. “I’m sure you know what he’s going to do if he has my number. If you…have any conscience at all, then please. Please, don’t give it to him.”

Makoto seemed hurt as she averted her gaze, hand gripping so tight onto the roster that her fingers turned pale.

“He already…called.”

“Please, senpai. Just once? You’ll save me a lot of future hassle. Don’t worry about messing up once, this is a very petty thing for them! If you know what I’m implying, then ask yourself if being a perfect student is more important than helping others.”

Makoto returned her gaze to her, seemingly convinced, but before she could say anything, the person they least wanted to hear spoke up.

“There you are, I was looking for you, Niijima. Did you bring what I—Ah, Takamaki.”

Kamoshida snickered, coming up from the stairs. Behind him, Shiho froze slightly upon noticing Ann’s presence.

Shiho seemed paler and bewildered. She should be having a good game today, but she’d still be called for a ‘private training’… Because Ann would reject Kamoshida’s invitation.

…

Remembering what might entail today…Ann finally decided.

…

_There’s just no need to play nice at this point_.

“Sensei. I was just telling Niijima-senpai to not give you my number if you ask.” Ann said with a polite smile.

Her words startled the three. Kamoshida broke into a cough, and an ugly sneer.

“Oh-hahaha! Is that so, Takamaki? What’s with you today, being so defensive?”

“I’m just very tired of the rumors going around this school—everyone keeps saying I’m your ‘bitch’. I don’t really like it.”

Under the gaze of Makoto, and with Shiho wide-eyed behind him, Kamoshida was clearly at loss for words. He snickered and chuckled when he realized the students were starting to crowd curiously.

“Oh my, Takamaki. You came on to me first, didn’t you?”

_Of course he'd try to avert it to me..._

“What are you saying!?” Shiho snapped instantly.

Kamoshida clicked his tongue at her. “Quiet, Suzui. This is none of your business! Your best friend came on to me! She did it for you!”

“Even if it’s true!” Makoto spoke up, “That can’t be true, but even if it is, you’re a teacher! You should decide better! She’s still a student!”

Kamoshida sighed and gave a solemn look. “You’re right, Niijima. But…I couldn’t just push them away. It’s my fault for having a hard time to say no to them. I didn’t want to make them sad…I didn’t want to disappoint Takamaki. I couldn’t bring myself to break a maiden’s heart.”

“Disgusting! Liar!” Shiho snapped once more. “You know that’s not true—_what are you whispering about!? That’s not true!_” she lashed at the students jeering at Ann.

“Oh stop being a goodie, Suzui! Who cares if it’s true?” a student that seemed to be one of the girl’s team member scoffed. “You think you’re better than some of us for not being touched? There are price to priviledge!”

“Oh. My God. What is this!?” Makoto was thoroughly shocked. “What are you saying!?”

“I don’t care what you say about me—or what you gave to this man for a spot in the team!” Shiho yelled back at the girl. “But don’t you go running your mouth on my best friend!”

“Shiho—stop!” Ann tried to holdback her friend, but Kamoshida stretched his arm between them and gave her a sickening smirk.

“Everyone here who heard everything and knows better, keep your head down and shut your mouth. Niijima, if you still want that recommendation letter, you know which side to pick. That, or I’ll just…slip it to everyone how you’ve failed at student council.”

The sickening man announced as if he had everyone wrapped with fear and intimidation—and he wasn’t wrong. The students that happened to be there either snickered or nervously exchanged glances. They all knew that if they got on Kamoshida’s bad side, they’re not going to have a dandy Shujin experience. So most of them ceased, or just stayed to jeer at Ann.

“You…You can’t decide such a thing!” Makoto argued.

“Hahaha! Very funny, Niijima. You really think you got to where you are because you had it in you?” Kamoshida sneered, and Ann watched the light faded from Makoto’s eyes. “…No one likes you, you do know that, right? _I_ got you that spot. Because you’re such a good pet. I mean, look at you! You were rushing around to get me that roster, didn’t you?”

“Th…That’s…”

“It can stay that way, if you just stay quiet.”

“Why would anyone stay quiet anymore!?” Shiho fiercely said, “Don’t all of you have respect for yourself!? Is this really worth it? He’s a coach! He’s not a king! He should support us, not hurt us or bargain us like some sort of auctioning items!”

“Wow wow wow, Suzui. You were doing so well. Guess you really didn’t want that position in the team after all.”

“Screw you! You never wanted to give it to me, you just wanted to use me for Ann!”

“Ahh, pity. I thought you loved volley. You should sell your soul if you truly love it.”

Shiho grimaced at the older man, shaking her head. “I love volleyball. I don't need you to tell me if I love it enough or not. I’ll still play and I don’t need to sell myself to a trash like you to be good at it! I’m good! And I don’t need you!”

It seemed that such a heartfelt cry ticked him off, because before anyone could finish listening to her words, Kamoshida had this ugly scowl, filled with hatred and clearly threatened.

And the next moment, he had pushed her off the stairs.

~.X.~

“That was self-defense. She was coming at me, angry because I didn’t put her on the team. I pushed her away. Alas it was not at a good place, she fell off the stairs. That’s the story.”

“Anyone who says otherwise…Well. Let’s see. Next boarding meeting, if I hear anything weird, then off from Shujin you go. _Capiche_?”

Makoto was never so livid in her life. She was pissed off at everyone—and herself, because she knew that she had turned a blind eye a lot…she just never knew that things were _this_ bad.

Her auburn gaze peeked at Takamaki Ann, who calmly tended to her friend, Suzui. The poor girl was finally sleeping in the mattress of the infirmary, her left arm that was dislocated due to the fall was already bandaged.

The blonde was trying to stall for time when she asked Makoto to not hand her number to the disgraceful teacher. Yet, as they were pressed by the momentum, Takamaki decided to face the man head on. Every single ugly truths, like pus under the skin, came bursting out for Makoto that day.

“I’m sorry that I dragged you into all this, Niijima-senpai.” Ann suddenly said, but instead of dejected, she was sincere and determined. “But I’m thankful that you tried to stand up for us.”

Makoto felt disgusted having to be faced by the fact that she wasn’t someone deserving of that ‘thankfulness’.

“I didn’t help you at all. I was just cornered to face the truth that I was trying to ignore.” She bitterly admitted. “He wasn’t wrong. I had been wondering why I’m in this position for a while. I have a hard time to empathize to my peers. I put the teachers first, all the time. That’s why he chose me to be here.”

The brunette felt her skin prickling with guilt seeing a kind, gentle smile from the blonde.

“It’s alright…It’s been done. The most important thing is to face the truth and your flaws. You’re not that horrible if you can still admit that you make mistakes.”

“Takamaki-san, you’re nicer than I thought.” Makoto let out a defeated laugh. “But…I don’t know what I can do now. All I want to do right now is run out there and kick that sicko to kingdom come.” She grimaced in her frustration. “Gosh! What a bastard!”

“It’s been a long time since Shiho snapped out like that, I guess.” Ann said thoughtfully, her blue eyes on the sleeping ravenette. “She’s super cool, isn’t she?”

The brunette smiled wryly, nodding. “The best. What an awesome friend you have.”

Makoto knew Ann, of course. Everyone knows her. She stands out so much, and it’s not even her fault. Now looking at her up close, it’s as if Ann was created to catch everyone’s attention. Sadly enough, it seems mostly she caught the bad kind of attention. For Makoto herself, she stood out in her own way. And she did, unfortunately, judged Ann on her own, without really knowing the girl. She never thought they’d ever cross paths anyways.

But…there’s this sense of gladness she had. A small liberation in her heart. She was faced with an event that forced out her sense of moral, and Ann praised her for it, even if it didn’t help that much.

And…it made her…happy.

The quietness was comfortable, but then the infirmary door was open again, and two juniors come in. Makoto knew both of them. One, the transfer student with criminal record, and the other, the troublemaker fake blond…

After what happened earlier, Makoto couldn’t help but to rethink of those ‘labels’. After all, it was Kamoshida who blabbered about it.

“You okay?” the raven-haired permy asked Ann, not giving regards to anyone else in the room.

“That bastard. I heard about it just now. Everyone's calling Suzui names, saying that she was trying to attack that ugly frog.” Ryuji spat, and then glared at Makoto. “What is this person doing here?”

“Senpai tried to help me. Stop glaring at her.”

“Huh!?”

“Shhh!” Makoto hissed at the younger boy. Sighing, she then turned to Shiho’s sleeping figure with a frown. “This won’t be good for Shiho. I think she might be suspended, but with that kind of rumors at school about her, it’d be hard to keep attending here. I’m betting that she might get expelled at worst.”

“That’s…unfair.” The transfer student said through gritted teeth.

“This is fucked up! Suzui fell off the stairs, got hurt, and she’s the one getting the boot!?” Ryuji short-fused.

“Ugh…so loud.” Shiho groaned and weakly opened her eyes.

“Ah, sorry, Suzui…”

“Sakamoto…and the transfer student…” the girl smiled weakly and let out a small sigh.

“We were discussing about your options continuing here.” Makoto decided to go on with the talk. “I know you’re not in a good place to think about it right now…Sorry.”

“Oh right…I was trying to forget about it.” Shiho closed her eyes. “I was already decided to leave the team and move on with my life. Why’d he gotta push me off and then blame me for it? Now I get how shitty it must’ve been for you, Sakamoto.”

Ryuji scoffed, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head. “This isn’t about me now, Suzui.”

“Even if he didn’t say a thing at the board meeting, people are going to treat you like shit.” Ren commented.

“Mm. That’s fine. I have Ann. It’s always been like this anyways.” Shiho sighed. “But getting expelled is…Ahh…” she stretched her unharmed arm to Ann, who gently held it. “I’m sorry I didn’t just listen to you the first time.”

“This isn’t the time to blame yourself.” Ann glanced away and meaningfully said, “But this is already too much. Can you imagine keeping things this way at Shujin?”

“There’s not exactly anything we can do, though.” Makoto dejectedly said, “Even as a student council president…I’m…” she shook her head. “If only Kamoshida changes his mind. I think that’s the only way for you, Suzui-san.”

“Change his mind?” Ryuji frowned.

“A change of heart…” Ren muttered, and then glanced at Ann meaningfully. “When’s the board meeting?”

“Approximately two weeks from now…” Makoto answered him. “Does knowing change anything? I think not.” She shook her head and stood up. “I think this place is too crowded. For now, rest and have your friend help you home, Suzui-san. I’m sorry, but I must leave now.”

“Thank you, Niijima-senpai.”

Makoto couldn’t shake off the strange feeling as she left the infirmary. For some reason, the dejected air in that room had changed to something mysterious.

Though maybe she was just tired, ‘cuz she heard some meowing earlier…


	7. Pseudonym

At this point, moping over the changes were pointless. Ann decided that it didn’t matter if she had a Persona or not, she didn’t regret facing Kamoshida upfront. She’s sure the real Ann would do the same if she’d known what might befall Shiho.

Apparently, the boys had found Morgana earlier after sending Mishima home. Kamoshida tried to pressure the poor guy to have ‘private training’ but Mishima this time openly said to the man that he quit the team, and coolly walked off. Morgana came up livid and fussed up because they ditched him the other day, but when they heard about the commotion in the class building, his anger was diversed.

She had changed Shiho’s fate. The girl got off almost unharmed. That sprain could heal in weeks. Makoto had offered to write her a permission letter for her injury leave, so they took Shiho home safely before heading to the station walkway.

Shiho is safe.

“I don’t know if you guys think this is bad enough…” Ann started, “But I want to steal the treasure from that Palace.”

She was saying it more to the protagonist than the rest of them. He was gazing at her thoughtfully, shaking his head.

“What are you saying? This is bad enough. How could this get any worse, Takamaki?” Ren huffed. “I got a criminal record for pettier shit!”

_He has a good point_.

“So we’re going for this?” Ryuji asked anyways, even though he seemed like he couldn’t wait to kick and punch something.

“You guys have to be sure about this, okay?” Morgana jumped out of the duffle bag, sitting regally on his spot. “We don’t know what will happen to that man when we steal his treasure. He might confess, or he might go through mental breakdown. With either possibility, are we going through with this plan?”

“Either way, school’s gonna be more bearable.” Ren coldly muttered. “I’m not the one getting shit but watching it all happening to others was not easy either.”

“Then, we should prepare!” Ann nodded. “We go tomorrow.”

“Whoa-whoa, _we_!?” Ryuji stopped her right away. “Takamaki, you can’t fight!”

“I’ll support you guys. I’ll bring supplies and medical kit.” She insisted. “Or I can go alone.”

“No, no, she’s coming with us.” Ren quickly said, as she had expected. Ryuji realizing that it was futile to stop her, merely grunted. “And it’s better too, in case that weird kid appear again, she’ll be safer with us.”

“Oh, right! That weird kid!” Morgana hissed agitatedly. “I don’t understand why, but he’s…dangerous. He felt human but also not human…” the cat hung averted his blue gaze away. “He felt similar to me.”

“Ugh. Guess we’re taking Takamaki with us. We’ll think about that kid later. Our mission is to help Suzui-san.” Ryuji spoke sense for the second time, garnering determined nods from his friends.

Afterwards, Morgana listed items that they might need. He also said that Ann should bring a fake gun as well, because at the very least, even without a Persona, she might be able to use it. Ryuji knew a place, and he and Ren would go there. Ann would stock up on food and medical supply, but she knew that Ren would know a better place to go, as he’s the game Protagonist and all.

~.X.~

When she came home after shopping, she prepared a small ransack. In metaverse, they could use cognition rules to think of dimensional space, so they should be able to fit a ton of things in a small space, hence how Ren had been pulling out his dagger and gun out of his ass—which was actually his small pants pocket. The same with Ryuji who somehow stuck a goddamn crowbar into his pants.

Right now she was not apt for fight, but Ann had prepared herself for a couple weeks now. She turned on the treadmill and did a run for an hour. She’s prepared. Without a Persona, she wouldn’t have physical poise or agility like Ren and Ryuji, so she had been training more and more in anticipation.

_I will not drag them down!_

It’s not so late after the run, so Ann grabbed her hoodie back, put in a pepper spray and her phone in the pockets and some petty cash before going out again. There’s a small playground nearby, and she’s been using the tall hanging monkey bars there to train her core strength. Ren and Ryuji would already have their persona, so they’d have easier time doing parkour, but Ann had been anxious about her Persona’s awakening.

It should be tomorrow, after Shiho jumped off a building. In-game Ann got dragged by the Palace guards and was almost stripped for show when Carmen was summoned.

She lightly jogged to the park. The early spring air at night was refreshingly cold. She enjoyed watching mist coming out of her breath. The sky was murky…and she never remembered it to be clear at night, perhaps thanks to the fact that it’s still a residential area by a big city.

_It’s been more than two weeks…since I woke up with these memories…_

It was confusing as well. She remembered all the time she had lived as Takamaki Ann, but once she got all the memories about ‘the game’, she had been having a hard time, because she realized that she’s not exactly Ann. Because she had memories of playing Persona. Yet, she couldn’t remember anything else about her past life.

But…she knew that it’s not about her. Not Ann, not whoever she was either. And lately she wondered if it’s even about saving everyone and make some of them atone. And recently she even fret over whether it was even a good thing? Or if she shouldn’t just do anything at all?

Seeing Mishima, Makoto, and Shiho today, Ann decided that she didn’t regret it one bit. She’ll just do what she thinks is right. Ren was right. Whether it was good or bad for the future, she’ll cross that bridge when she gets to it.

Her trains of thoughts were abruptly stopped as she stepped into the park and found a familiar figure hanging upside down from the top of the jungle gym.

“Mommy, you picked me up~!” the blond frizzy child with silvery eyes lit up at the sight of her. Ann was glad that it was in the evening, and no one was there except for them.

Her heart was thumping hard as she stopped there, torn about running off, but a huge part of her was filled with curiosity. Ann wanted to deal with things upfront, and rather than having to run into this weird kid like horror game’s jumpscares, she’d really like it if she could make peace right now.

Having decided that, Ann determinedly stepped forth.

“Hello.”

“Ehehe.” He grinned widely, a familiar kind of grin that she couldn’t really explain why… “Do you remember me now?”

Ann gazed at the boy, trying. She truly couldn’t remember anything, though. Even her childhood memories as Ann was blurry—sometimes her memories of the game was not even precise, she could only manage to write down a summary of events that went down…so this child, who kept nagging at her about it was making her nervous. It’s either she should have other past memories, or this kid got the wrong person, and how was she supposed to know?

“I’m sorry…but I really don’t remember anything about you. I only have a…a strange memory of a game.”

The child got off the jungle bars, showing how agile he was, not even tripping on the dew-covered bars. He seemed to have a look of understanding after hearing the answer.

“Nn. That’s okay…I guess.” He smiled wryly and dropped some tears.

“Um—Um!? Why are you crying?”

“I just…I mean, at least you remember the important part…but…I still feel sad that you forgot about m-me…” he sobbed, furiously wiping his face. Ann felt a painful clench in her chest, and before she could stop herself, she craddled the child’s face with her hands and wiped his tears, soothing him with gentle shush.

“Can…Can I get a hug?” he looked up to her with big silver eyes and Ann melted.

“Come here you little puppy…There, there, it’s okay…” Ann knelt and hugged him gently, patting his head. He clung to her, his small hands gripping tightly to the back of her hoodie, and she could feel him sobbing in her chest.

“I missed you a lot, mom. You don’t remember, and you don’t have to, but you’re really my mom.” The child murmured, having calmed down from his sobbing.

They were sitting in the swing, and Ann had him cuddling on her laps. She let her long legs gently rocking them. For some reason, Ann didn’t want to question if he was lying or not. It felt…right. Or perhaps she just wanted to believe that. Perhaps even for a little, she wanted to have a part of her past life. It might sound selfish…but she couldn’t help it. And she didn’t want to lie to herself about it.

“How do you know I’m your mom?”

“Cuz…cuz you said the thing about the game.”

“What was I like?”

He shook his head dejectedly. “I can’t tell.”

“Why not?”

He looked up to her again, as if he was really hurt, but he swallowed it. “Cuz…you gotta remember the game. You can’t remember _everything_. What if you explode?”

She smiled wryly, couldn’t tell if he was serious or just worried as a child.

“Then, what’s your name?”

“I…I can’t tell.” He sniffled and nuzzled his face to her neck again. She could feel something wet there. “You named me. So…it’s a memory. So if I tell you…what if you explode?”

She giggled and patted his back with one hand. “You really think I will?”

“I’m scared.” He mumbled, and nuzzled even more, like a cat on her shoulder. “It’s okie if you don’t remember. I just…I just wanna be with mom. So I’ll remember it all for ya. So…So please let me be with mom?”

She didn’t know why…but her heart felt hurt. She didn’t understand what this child went through, or what he knew about her past life…but he clung to the memories of her for her sake…and he had to remember it alone. It might feel like it didn’t happen, whatever he went through with her in their past life. And that ought to be lonely. And…she knew loneliness more than anyone.

_I’m not going to leave him alone_. She smiled to herself and stopped rocking the swing, so she could hug the child.

“Okay…what about, you tell me things I didn’t know about you?” she pried gently and slightly pulled him away to look at his face.

His silver eyes gleamed again, and he nodded repeatedly.

“Mm…You bought a gaming laptop for dad, but I…I got him to give it to me.”

Ann felt slightly dizzy. Okay. Of course. She had a husband…

“Why?”

“Mine didn’t have big RAM.”

“Why’d you need a big RAM?”

“I…I wanna mix music. Oh. Oh! I was gonna surprise you on birthday, mom. I was gonna tell you that I’m good at violin. I was gonna play something for your birthday.”

“You’ve been practising?”

“I’ve been! For uhmmm…since yesteryear. You didn’t know, but dad took me to concerts in summer. And—and, then, I started mixing stuff. And people loved it.”

“People listened to you? At school?”

“No! Online!” he giggled giddily. “I was gonna surprise ya…I had that psychodenim online. I got like ten thousands subscribers. And I was gonna tell ya…”

“Psychodenim?”

“Yeah, the fake name.”

Ann snorted. “It’s _pseudonym_, you twerp.”

“That’s the same word!”

“What was your fake name? Did I know?”

Suddenly, it was as if a light bulb popped brightly above his head, and a big grin spread across his face.

“You didn’t! Yeah, you can call me that. My fake name was Pogo!”

“Pogo?”

“Mmhm!”

“Like the pogo stick?”

He tilted his head, wide eyes blinking. “Wuzzat?”

“You never seen a pogo stick?”

“Nuh-uh. Is it like Pocky sticks? Is it good?”

Ann blurted with giggles. She wondered if her child never seen a pogo stick in his life, so perhaps it was a very modern timeline. So this child…is called Pogo. He seemed calmer and cheered up from twenty minutes earlier.

She wondered how he had followed her to this world, and why. And it didn’t really matter to her if he was lying or not; he was genuinely sad and lonely, she didn’t want to leave him that way. At he moment it might be reckless of her to just accept this…Pogo, but based on her gut feelings, she didn’t want to leave him alone.

“How did you get to Metaverse, Pogo? And why did you…I don’t know, you were scary.”

Pogo stared into her eyes. “Mm…You can’t get mad okie?”

“Okie, I won’t.”

“Okie. I asked Phil. An’ he said if I wanna follow you I gotta go on the Chronicles.” Seeing her confused frown, he added; “The trains, mom. But, I gotta go off before I get to the deep Mementos.”

“There’s a lot of shadows there…did you get hurt?”

He shook his head, and he didn’t seem like he wanted to explain how he survived a shadow-infested place like Mementos, let alone how and where he got to go on the trains, called Chronicles. Seeing that she didn’t get mad, he dropped his head onto her shoulder again, shivering, trying to snuggle for warmth. That made Ann realized that it was really getting late, because it’s shivering cold.

“Let’s go home.”

“Home?” Pogo seemed surprised.

“Mm-hm. My home here. Come on.” Seeing the child seemed dumbstruck, she giggled and ruffled his soft hair. “I don’t know where you had been staying since you got here, but you’re not going back there, okay?”

“Is…is it okay?” he began to tear up, and she huffed.

“It’s okay, but you can’t cry.”

“O-Okay!” He sniffled hard and wiped his face, nodding. “I won’t cry again.”

He skipped to her side and confidently took her hand, as if it was the most natural thing to do. Ann felt slightly dizzy by the familiarity of it, and at the back of her head, perhaps Pogo was not lying that she might explode if she knew more about her past life.

Tomorrow’s going to be a much busier day than planned. She had Pogo took a warm bath and they ate dinner. The child seemed frail, and he seemed to have been starving for a while, as he ate with a gusto. Ann had to dig out her old stuff and found her childhood pajamas, most of them were baby blue sleeping gown. After leaving the gown, she still had things to do, which was studying.

In-game Ann was not so slobby, but she got distracted very easy when studying, and didn’t care much about her grades. Her parents didn’t really mind her grades either. However, since she woke up remembering the game, she felt a strange sense of responsibility to study. Sometimes this made her wonder if perhaps she was already a mature adult in her past life.

“So this is mom’s bedroom.” Ann noticed Pogo entering with wonder in his eyes, looking around the room, and then climbing to her queen-sized bed and dropped his face to her pillow and rolled around.

She didn’t have the heart to tell him that she meant him to sleep in the guest room…

_Ah damn it all!_

“Mommy, are you studying? Does that mean you’re smart?” he curiously asked.

“I don’t think so? I’m just trying, I guess.”

She heard him coming off her bed and crawled onto her lap to curiously look down on her math practice.

Ann found it strange and warm, how it felt so…natural for him to do it. For Pogo, she’s his mother and he’s a child who just innocently acted on his habits. For Ann, unfortunately, he’s technically a stranger, and it’s not exactly easy to just accept that he’s her son from her past life…

“Mom this part. You should add, not multiply them. It’s not this formula, but the other one. Can I get a pencil? I’ll write it down!”

Ann hummed. The child continued to amaze her as he gave her pointers. Whenever she asked when he learned all this, he just smiled quietly, and perhaps it had something to do with _her_. She re-did her work patiently, listening to Pogo’s chatter and finally got to check her answers with the solution sheet and finding them all right. At that point, she could feel a weight on her shoulder, and the child was sleeping with gentle snores.

She turned off the lights, set her alarm, and huddled both of them under her quilt.

_Okay…how am I gonna explain this to everyone tomorrow?_

~.X.~

“Ngh!” a feminine whine echoed in the vast space, followed by numerous slapping sounds. It didn’t even sound like a slap—it sounded like a brutal beating.

“How dare you to reject me in public like that!” the tackily-clad Kamoshida raised his blood-stained hand once more, grimacing in wrath.

“I’m a bad girl…” the fake-Ann beneath him cried, just as he desired. “I’m sorry, milord, I’ve been a bad girl~! Punish me!”

The brutal beating continued in the chamber. The palace had been restless lately, with their king prone to executing anything that pissed him off.

Finally the beating stopped, and the king rushed out as he pulled up his pants, wiping his foot that was stained by bodily fluid onto the carpet before slamming the door close behind him.

“Ahh~ Guess the Princess is not his majesty’s favorite again~!”

From behind the curtains, the rest of the harem dwellers finally peeked out with satisfied smirks on their face, finding the battered cognitive-Ann on the floor.


	8. Made Up Your Mind Yet? (1)

Ann was worried that she wouldn’t get enough sleep, yet soon as Pogo cuddled into her, she was washed by a dizzying drowsiness, and a dreamless sleep conquered her. By the time her alarm roused her awake, she felt absolutely refreshed. Since remembering the memories of her past-life, she had been having a hard time falling asleep and nightmares about screwing up, so this was a very great change.

The blonde prepared breakfast for two—which was only toasted bread, jam and carton milk. She noted to herself that she would have to restock her fridge now, if Pogo’s going to live with her from now on, because he’s a growing child and shouldn’t eat out so much.

_…Then again, I’m also a growing child…_

“Mom,” Pogo clung to her waist drowsily. “You going to Palace today?”

“Yep.” Ann ruffled his soft fluffy hair and ushered him to the dining table, handing a small milk carton. After they are seated properly, Pogo just listlessly stared at his food.

“Pogo?”

“Mmhm.”

“Are you going to come with me later? You can’t come with me to school, you know that right?”

“I know…” he puffed his cheeks and slightly sulked. “Mom?”

“Hm?”

“When we’re with other people, is it okay if I call you Annie?” he blushed hard, slowly looking away. Ann felt slightly dizzy, but part of her couldn’t help but want to squeal at his adorableness.

“Yep! You can. And, everything that you told about me last night, don’t tell it to anyone else, okay? It’ll be secret just for the two of us!” she winked mischievously and ruffled his head again.

“Secret…just for the two of us…” his silver eyes lit up, and then a crooked grin was etched on his small face. “Hehe! Okie! Our own lil secret…hehehe…” he giggled, seemingly excited about having something exclusive with her. She giggled as well, then told him to finish his breakfast.

Ann taught Pogo how to lock the door, and before she could worry about the case of her parents coming home, the boy told her to just hurry up to school.

“Don’t worry about that mom. I’ve got it all covered! Hurry! Have a safe trip! I’ll see you at the Palace entrance~”

Strangely enough, Ann could trust the boy. So far she understood that he’s not an idiot, so she was not really worried about it. Her mind could safely focus on what would entail today after school, which was to begin infiltration at Kamoshida’s Palace. In the mean time, Shiho sent her a text saying that she wouldn’t be coming to school for a while, and told Ann to cheer up about it.

It seemed that her mother hadn’t been asking much about her injury, but it’s only a matter of time until the board director meeting. Makoto had told them that if it’s decided that Shiho would be expelled, Shiho’s parents would be called to school.

_So at least a week and a couple days._

When arriving to Shibuya, Ann remembered to get some melon bread, because in-game, it’s a very useful item. She just didn’t expect to run into Akechi Goro again, though he didn’t seem to notice her. Ann requested for the breads, but it happened the same time as when Akechi enquired the same thing as her.

“I’d like four melon bread—ah.” She and Akechi turned to look at each other.

“Sure, Akechi-san!” the shop attendant seemed to deliberately took note of Akechi’s words, before smiling coldly at Ann and said; “Sorry, customer! That’s all we have for now! The next batch is coming in fifteen minutes.”

_Gah! That’s bias!_

Ann kept her smile. “Aww, too bad. I’m running out of time, though. Maybe next time.” She nodded to the two of them and walked away, slightly dejected.

Maybe she was just being extra though—since she did pack a lot of things yesterday, and Pogo said he’d bring them to the Palace’s Entrance later. She also had to explain about Pogo to the boys, so getting dejected over melon bread was not an urgent worry…Perhaps she could try and make some another time?

“Um, excuse me! You, the blonde one?”

Ann reacted several seconds late when hearing someone referring to her as ‘the blonde one’. She was waiting for her next train to Aoyama-Itchome, and Akechi was heading her way, attracting many more gazes.

“I’m sorry about earlier…I’m a regular customer there, that’s why she acted that way.” He smiled brightly, and then tried to hand his purchase earlier to her. “I’ve had these often, so you can have them today.”

And of course, this didn’t go unnoticed—_how could it go unnoticed_? They stood out so much! The girls were already tailing their gaze at Akechi, and Ann is Ann. The fact that Akechi feigned innocence as if he didn’t realize the attention he’s making for them was slightly irritating her.

He knew he was making a scene. And he’s enjoying it.

Ann didn’t, though. And she’s not a pushover that would play into it.

“It’s fine.” She shook her head, and even if she would get shit for this from the girls later, she didn’t care. “You know it’s a bit shady to offer food to strangers, right?”

His eyes slightly widened, and his smile clearly stiffened, perhaps he didn’t expect her to not know him. “You’re right. Sorry. I’m Akechi Goro.”

…

_Why is he introducing himself!?_

She could feel the stinging glare from the girls—well it’s always stinging, but today it’s particularly more painful! Ugh, she could hear them gossiping, saying that Ann was just pretending to not know to get his attention and shit.

_What a petty guy_. Ann realized he knew what he’s doing, and he didn’t like to be embarrassed even the slightest. Akechi Goro seemed to really bask in making girls swoon and building his prince-like image…

_So I’m the bad guy? Everyone wants me to be the villainess, huh? Geez, high schoolers are so dramatic_.

“You know you’re making a scene right? You don’t have to do that. I’ve already got enough shit at school, and you add more salt to the injury. Happy now?” she smiled coldly and scoffed at him. “You can take your melon bread and shove it up your—“

“T-T-Takamaki-san! Th-There you are!” she heard a familiar voice, and soon Mishima was there with all his might to save the day. “We’re go-go-gonna be late! Excuse me!” he nodded to Akechi, who was probably still trying to process what she had just mouthed at him.

Mishima managed to come on time with the opening train doors and dragged her in. He looked as if he just lost a couple years of his lifespan. They managed to snatch some seats near the crowds of adults instead of students.

“Takamaki-san…That was Akechi Goro…didn’t you know him?” he whispered.

Ann huffed. “I know, but I don’t care. He was doing that on purpose, putting me on the spot!” she hissed back.

“Yes…but you’re going to make more enemies. At school, everyone’s already mad at you and Suzui-san for the thing with Kamoshida. Now they’re gonna join forces with Akechi’s fans!”

Mishima seemed timid, but he gave it his all to lecture her. He was genuinely concerned for her, and he surely had mustered up a lot of courage to drag her out of that spot earlie., She couldn’t help but smile.

“You’re a badass, Mishima. Thanks for earlier, and for worrying about me.”

“Uhm,” he blushed hard and looked down at the space between his legs. “It’s…it’s nothing.”

Ann still reserved her past memories in middle school. Sometimes she got bullied for misunderstanding and petty shit, and the students who hated her or Shiho would do petty pranks at her. She wouldn’t be surprised if later she’ll find her shoe locker filled with mud.

Lo and behold, she was right—her locker was filled with muds, and other students just whispered behind her. They’ve arrived at school, and she’s been getting even more stares than before. Mishima whimpered when she stopped at her locker and finding how battered it was.

It was such a strange culture. Why would these kids just do nothing? Kids tend to like it that someone their age got bullied as long as it’s not them, it’s a formula that’s been proven for a long time. And it’s stupid.

_Okay…Ann…don’t get mad…We’re kicking Kamoshida later. And saving Akechi Goro is technically a charity work now…You can do this girl…._

“Oh-ho? What is this, Takamaki?” Ann soon had to face the person she least wanted to meet. Kamoshida leered at her, glancing to her shoe locker. “How did you get it so dirty!? Jeez, you better clean this up! It’s an eyesore, you know? I know you’re pretty, but don’t be such a dirty pig, Takamaki…”

She heard giggles from around her. Ann felt it was unrelated to her; she was just slightly impressed by how this manchild could be more irritating. Disappointed, but not surprised.

“Do that later. Class is starting in ten.” A female voice was heard, and Kawakami-sensei walked up to them with a demotivated face. “Come on, Takamaki, I’ll get you a spare. You better clean this up during lunchbreak, you hear me?” she said, dragging the girl by her hand. When they’re far enough from Kamoshida, she let out a long sigh.

“Jeez, trouble never ends.”

Ann heard her complaining, but the woman still looked for a pair of spare uwabaki for her, and she couldn’t help but smile anyway. The bell rang, and she followed Kawakami to their class. She noticed Ren seemed to be relieved seeing her, as if he had been waiting for her to come in.

When she sat down, he muttered; “What’s wrong?”

“Hmm…I’ll tell you later.” She shrugged, and stood up as they’re told to give the morning greeting.

They’re not at the Palace yet but Ann wondered if she could keep her sanity to the end, because the urge to kick some people was so real.

~.X.~

_Ugh, she’s an eyesore…_

_Look at her, couldn’t do things by herself, always getting boys to help her!_

_You know she acted all stuck up earlier when Akechi-kun greeted her at the station?_

_Did you know what she did for her friend Suzui?_

Ann finally found her own uwabaki in the pile of muds that filled up her locker. She had sent a pic to Shiho of it with laughing emojis, but it was a mistake, because Shiho spammed capslock-swearwords and incorrigible smash of keyboards for the reply.

Ryuji was pissed as well, snapping at anyone who’s watching them; he’s like an angry chihuahua, and Ren was even scarier, having this deathly glare on his face as he helped her holding a plastic to hold the mud she’s scooped out.

“I think this should be enough.” Ann said, wiping her forehead with the back of her hand. “Thanks guys! Sorry that you’re helping me during lunchbreak though. I’ll treat you to something later.”

“It’s fine.” Ren shook his head, still grimly angry.

“Then you’re gonna treat us ramen.” Ryuji demanded.

“Sure!” she grinned, and noticed that Ren was checking his phone. “Oh, I gotta clean this up. You guys should go ahead.”

“Yeah, class is starting.” Ren sighed, pocketing his phone.

Ann disposed of the trashbag and went to the bathroom to wash up. She took her time, even though the bell would soon ring—at this point she really couldn’t care less about making herself a spectacle. Anything she’ll do, everyone’s gonna whine about it behind her back.

She would feel sorry for in-game Ann if she had to endure this, though. Teenagers at school viewed reputation as everything, even the ones who didn’t seem to care much would get bothered at some point, because they’d spend more than a decade of their life in this environment. They hadn’t seen how vast the world is, and the people they knew were limited to the ones in their daily life.

_For me to think this way…I guess I was really an adult in my past life…with a family of my own._ Ann stared at her reflection in the mirror. It felt strange, because part of her was so used to this appearance, body, and life, but her mind was ahead of her time. Her friends were angry and worried for her, but she saw over them with ease; she truly didn’t think of anything about being bullied in school or being the butt of a gossip.

People like Kamoshida couldn’t decide where the lines; he probably wanted to be cooped up in his own palace and put himself on a pedestal. He found ease at his power over impressionable, unassuming children. And then there’s Kobayakawa, the wide-faced-wimp who never took responsibility for anything.

She sighed and tidied her uniform, ignoring the girls that just entered.

“Oi, Takamaki…” she was stopped by a hand trying to shove her shoulder, but she persisted. This girl was one of the volley team’s member. “Hey, hold it!”

Ann sighed. “Okay what do you want?”

They’re quietly glaring at her, who didn’t feel slightly threatened by their blatant dislike.

“Get in there.” One of them ordered, pointing at a stall.

Ann sighed and walked out of the bathroom. Why would anyone just obey that kind of stupid order? Before she completely left the space, one of them angrily shrieked and just went ahead to tackle her.

“You bitch! Always walking like nothing’s wrong! Bow down! Get in here!”

“What is your problem?” Ann calmly grunted, trying to hold her stance as they tried to drag her back in. Even though she had been exercising more, she’s against three volley team players that were trained for nationals.

She relented because she didn’t want to get hurt.

“I don’t care what you think about Kamoshida-sensei, but you shouldn’t mess up things for us! We’re going to nationals, dammit!”

“No one’s gonna believe you, so there’s no need to try and fight!”

Ann just heard them out until they’re done venting and realize that she didn’t care either, and she didn’t care enough to fight or say anything. And they’re faced with the ugly truth that _they_’re the one feeling cornered instead, by their own insecurities.

“I guess you guys at least realize that you’re not doing anything good.” Ann scoffed at them.

“Urk…” one of them gritted their teeth, and then suddenly shoved her into one of the stall.

Ann didn’t expect that, and she tried to quickly slide out, but she was slammed in the face by the door, and of course—she got locked in.

“As if you’re good!”

Ann rolled her eyes. “When did I ever say I’m a good person?”

“Shut up!”

She heard water running, and Ann was not surprised when a bucket of it fell from above the door. She heard nothing else than a door getting slammed.

Ann quickly sent a text to the groupchat, and hoping at least Ren would come. She felt slightly guilty for relying on him so much, though.

_Here I thought that I can be more dependable with this game knowledge._

She sat on the covered seat, feeling slightly cold because she’s drenched. Of course, she was pissed off, but she had no choice other than thinking about those girls just now. They’re insecure…they knew that they were doing something really damaging to themselves; they sold themselves to Kamoshida. They thought it’d be worth it. And seeing Ann and Shiho scared them. It made them face their skewed decisions.

_They’re teenagers…I feel sorry for them, but they’re gonna be fine. It’s good to fuck up early._ This line of thoughts made her smile, because… well, look at Ren and Ryuji. Though Ann couldn’t deny that she’s glad that Shiho was safe and if _this_ kind of petty bullying was all she needed to endure in exchange, she didn’t mind at all.

If those girls decided to sell themselves to Kamoshida, then that’s on them. In the game, Shiho was done against her will, and at the very least Ann wanted to stop that. And she did it.

_It’s gonna be okay_. _I’ve made up my mind._

Her head started to feel a pang of pain, and she wondered if she’s going to catch a cold.

…

_It’s so quiet..._

…

After quite a long while of silence, the bell rang. And yet, there’s still no one coming close to the restroom. She had enough time to take off her wet hoodie and squeeze the water out of it. When she did that, the outer restroom door was opened.

At first, she thought it was either Ren or Ryuji, but then, she heard a nasty chuckle instead.

_Kamoshida…!?_


	9. Made Up Your Mind Yet? (2)

Ren felt restless, and it grew more as no one could answer their teacher who asked about the empty seat in front of him. Morgana growled.

“Something happened.” The cat hissed.

When he finally noticed the new messages in his phone, Ren felt a cold chill down his spine.

Ann said she got locked in the restroom stall, and Ryuji had sent torrential messages of curses. He mentally groaned, but didn’t show it on his face. The raven-haired glanced around, trying to get a read of his classmates, but other than sneaky snickers of some girls, no one seemed to know where Ann is. He met Mishima’s worried gaze; he’s just as concerned.

It’s only been a few days, but Ren realized that Takamaki Ann had took up a vast area in his mind. Things had been strange since he touched down to Tokyo—what with this Persona thing, and that weird prison he’d been dreaming in, none of them fazed him as much as how worried he was for Takamaki Ann.

Even back in his hometown, he didn’t have much friends. He didn’t plan to have any here either, yet things never happened as planned. Sure he was irritated about Kamoshida, but he didn’t plan to do anything about it. He planned to keep his head down as told. Even though he didn’t regret helping others, he didn’t find it that urgent to go up against someone whom others voluntarily worship. It was just pathetic though seeing this many people letting themselves becoming doormats for an asshole like Kamoshida.

But then he heard what happened to Ryuji. And the more he noticed Kamoshida’s dirty gaze at Ann, the more that man was getting under his skin.

Keep your head down, keep it down, he kept telling himself. Make a low profile. Just let it go.

_But I can’t stay this way._

He excused himself to the bathroom when the lesson is changing, of course, to find Ann. He didn’t have to go far when he noticed a commotion near the restroom. A familiar figure is there, the student council president girl, who seems to be sternly listening to three other girls.

“Amamiya. Is Takamaki not in class?” she sharply asked, and he felt an uncomfortable churn in his gut.

“No…I was going to look for her…” his gaze moved to the other girls. He wasn’t familiar with them. “What happened? Do you know something?”

Makoto shook her head and turned to the girls again. “I’ll have to take notes and report this later. Very disappointed.”

One of the girls couldn’t hide her emotion, griping through her teeth.

“…Ng…It’s…it’s her fault. If she’s…If only she’s…”

“I don’t understand what’s up, but can you stop blaming others? Have you ever thought of taking responsibilities for once?” Ren sharply said to the one mumbling with her head down. “What did you do to Takamaki?”

“Stop.” Makoto cut him off. “You three, return to your classes. Amamiya, come.”

Ren sent piercing glare at the girls as he followed Makoto, but then stopped when realizing that she’s entering the rest room.

“Umm…?”

Makoto gestured a hand at one of the stall right behind the entrance, where there’s a broomstick holding the stall.

“They locked her in here, but she’s gone.” She curtly explained. “I thought she’d somehow climb over and return to class, but since you’re looking for her, I assumed she’s not.”

“But…she wouldn’t just leave school…I mean, her things are still in class.” Ren frowned.

Makoto sighed, rubbing her nosebridge. “Let’s keep quiet about this for a bit and wait if she’d turn up eventually. I’ll try to look for her. I don’t want her to get in more trouble.”

“I’ll appreciate that.” The raven-haired nodded and turned to leave.

He met with Morgana in the courtyard. The cat sat on the table, and when seeing Ren’s hopeful face, he shook his furry face.

“She’s not anywhere in school.” The cat seemed to be thinking about something, and said, “I actually…sensed something earlier, but I brushed it off. It’s a similar sensation to entering Metaverse.”

“Like the headache?”

“I see, so that’s what human feels.” Morgana hummed, swishing his tail once. “I wonder if somehow Lady Ann is in the Metaverse.”

Ren told the cat what he’d heard from Makoto, and the cat seemed slightly agitated, but composed himself quickly. They’re at a standstill as their respective minds tried to make sense of why Ann disappeared, and they really didn’t want to conclude to the possibility that Ann was in the Metaverse…

_She’d be in danger_._ Or…did she disappear because there’s a danger?_

“Let’s regroup with Ryuji. You should message him so we don’t have to waste time explaining things.”

“Yeah…She couldn’t have gone far if she left her belongings in class…I think she is, in the Metaverse. We’ll go in after school.”

“I’ll trust your gut instinct too, Ren.”

~.X.~

Morgana pointed out that they’re at a slight disadvantage because Ann was not there with their supplies, so they braced themselves with that fact in mind. However, when the red vortex engulfed them along with the dizzying pang of entering Metaverse, they’re soon welcomed by a familiar figure.

“Finally!” the mysterious blond-haired boy huffed with his hands on hips.

“Y-You’re! Aren’t you that creepy kid!?” Ryuji gasped and bared his fang, ready to grab his gun.

“I’m not a creepy kid!” the boy huffed, crossing his arms. “I was waiting here for so long! Where’s my Annie?”

Morgana gawked. “My Annie!?”

“Calm down, Ryuji.” Ren huffed, and with another step, they’re in Kamoshida’s territory because the blue flame engulfed them and changed their outfits to their thief rag.

He then aimed his pistol at the boy with a stern face. “Who are you, exactly?”

“I’m Pogo.” The boy didn’t flinch, looking back at Ren despite the gun’s snout on his forehead. “Where’s Annie?” he also didn’t care that Ryuji and Morgana were also aiming their guns at him.

“What do you want from her?” Ryuji spat.

“Well, she told me to take the supplies here.” He patted the slingbag on his shoulder. “You guys are going to steal the King’s Treasure, right?”

“Did Lady Ann tell you all this?” Morgana seemed surprised. They all lowered their guns. “Also, what are you anyway?! How did you get here? Did you have the MetaNav?”

“Haa, Mona you’re always so loud.” Pogo huffed. “I don’t need MetaNav. I have the Pass. I’m Annie’s relative.”

“Yeah I call bullshit.” Ryuji deadpanned. “So our supplies are in that bag? And you don’t know where Takamaki is?”

“I was asking you first!”

It seemed that the boy was not going to attack them anytime soon, and he had been closely acquainted to Ann somehow, because he truly brought the requested supplies Morgana had listed the other day.

The bickering continued, though.

Ren felt an actual headache coming. “Okay, everyone be quiet.” He snapped his fingers.

He closed his eyes and tried to concentrate to the mindmap. It’s quite convenient to have this Third Eye skill, because it helped him detect certain entities.

And he could sense his possible confidants ever since he gained Ryuji as his first confidant. It was faint but he was quite sure that Ann was probably in the Palace.

When he opened his eyes, however, he noticed a strange giant lock on Pogo, the mysterious boy. It’s different than normal confidant locks, because it’s in the shape of heart.

“I’m quite sure that Takamaki is, in fact, in the Palace.”

“Goddammit. How though!?” Ryuji clicked his tongue, and then glared at Pogo. “You did it didn’t you?”

“Why me? I just asked where she is! What a Numbskull!”

“N-Numbskull!?” Ryuji was about to yank the brat, but then stopped. “Wait…did you guys hear it?”

Everyone became quiet again, and Ren realized that he’s hearing music in his head. Ryuji soon grabbed onto his head as well, and Morgana seemed bewildered.

“Where did that come from? Why did I hear it in my head!?”

“Oh, that’s me.” Everyone turned to Pogo with a glare. “Well, you guys are going to have an adventure, and it’s gonna be tiring, so a bit of music won’t hurt, right? Hmph, I was gonna do it to impress Annie though.”

It’s a funky electric guitar music with a funny tune. Ren stared at the boy for a bit, before grinning.

“That’s real cool.”

“Yeah, right?”

“Hey, hey, hey, wait! Isn’t this too weird!? Don’t you think it’s dangerous?” Ryuji seemed floored to see Ren just turned so accepting of the brat.

“Do you have any more Shoji Meguro stuff?” Ren asked.

“Oh yeah, I have this…”

“Ah, you should play this during battle.”

“Got it. What about this? I’ll play it when there’s a boss fight.”

“Oi!” Ryuji whined. Morgana shook his head. Their leader was already taken in by the mysterious boy’s strange skill of infusing music in Metaverse. It didn’t take a while until Ryuji gave up.

“Guys, can we focus now? We need to find Lady Ann.” Morgana finally said.

“Sorry, I got distracted.” Ren huffed. “Pogo, you’ll fill in for Takamaki. So you’re in charge of the supplies and the treasures.”

“Got it.” Pogo nodded, already on a friendly state with the leader.

Ryuji facepalmed. “Okay, whatever. So like, does that mean you have a Persona or something?”

Pogo seemed surprised, and then laughed. “Oh yeah! Of course I have. I forgot my uniform too!” he giggled, and soon a blue flame flashed to engulf him before changing his attire.

His casual white hoodie turned into a steampunk costume with plague doctor mask that instead of covering his eyes, it’s covering his nose and mouth.

“That’s pretty cool.” Ryuji admitted. “Now your codename is Punk.” 

Pogo turned his head to Ren before Ryuji finished talking.

“Joker can choose.”

“Don’t ignore me!”

Ren hummed and looked at the boy up and down. He chuckled. “You’re DJ. Goes without saying.”

“You got an aye!” Pogo giggled and excitedly cheered. “Okay…so…let’s find Annie and then steal the King’s Treasure!”

~.X.~

The girls earlier had told her whereabouts to Kamoshida. Ann didn’t have to wonder what would have gone down were she just waited for that man to barge in…She’d rather face shadows than having that man touch her with a stick.

She realized that there’s no way anyone’s gonna come now. She couldn’t just kick the door open either, because she didn’t want to get the guards’ attention…

Ann tried to stand on the toilet seat as high as she could, but the stall was too high and too far from reach. Mustering her gut, Ann took a deep breath and jumped anyway.

Her hands managed to grab the door’s frame, and she lifted herself up. When she managed to exit the restroom, it’s no longer the school hallway, but a palace’s corridor. She realized that she was sort of screwed—she had nothing on her! Her phone battery died so there’s no way to exit the Metaverse, and she had no gun nor any idea which part of the castle she was in.

Ann snuck around trying to map the area. She didn’t have any way of knowing the time, but it felt that a long time has passed since she scoured around. The place she’s in was not so spacious; it’s like a dorm room, an open-type. The purple fume and light made her feelt slightly nauseous.

_I think I’m in the harem chamber…_she realized, teeth gritting and her head was slightly spinning.

Ann hid behind the door, waiting for anyone to enter. And she was not disappointed when a flock of girls finally entered…however, she was appalled when seeing them.

They didn’t have head—they only have their body from torso down to legs. Ann didn’t dare to stare for too long and quickly slipped out of the room with the short chance she had.

However, as soon as she exited, an even more digusting smell attacked her senses—the next room was filled with puddles of white human fluid. Ann wanted to vomit as she covered her mouth and nose with her hoodie collar.

Even though she smelled like toilet water, it’s much better than…this room…

That’s when she found _her_.

Battered and covered in cum and blood, stranded on the floor in a tragic pose, the bikinis on her pointlessly strapped on her uncovered privates.

“You…You did this to me…” Cognitive Ann weakly muttered, her blue eyes had no lights in them as she stared at Ann.

It was a strange moment. In the game, Ann would kill this cognitive version of what Kamoshida imagined her to be. There were three cognitive versions of real people that was shown in the game; Ann, Ren, and Akechi. Except for Ren, the cognitive versions of Ann and Akechi degraded their real-selves.

_Cognitive version of Ann…this is how Kamoshida thought of me. He thinks I’m battered and that I deserve to be this way. He thinks that I think I feel pathetic_.

Ann removed her varsity jacket to put it on the battered girl before helping her up and dragging her.

“What…what are you…doing…?”

“I’m punishing you.” Ann huffed.

“This is His Majesty’s order?”

“Exactly.”

The Fake-Ann sobbed. “I’ve been a bad girl…So bad that he’d want this bitch to punish me…But that side of him makes him cool too.”

Ann wanted to punch this girl so much but she’s going to hold back.

She brought Cognitive-Ann with difficulty, as they’re trying to be sneaky. The limp, battered figure leaning on her was slimy and smelly, and she was in a lot of pain—which Ann found strange, because she thought that Cognitives—how she chose to adress them for the time being—were not based on real people, so why would this one feel pain? She remembered Cognitive Akechi in the game didn’t even bat an eye when targeting the real-Akechi.

_Where are we?_

“What floor is this?” Ann finally asked.

“Ugh, seriously? You don’t even know where you are…? That’s like, so dumb.” Cognitive-Ann rolled her eyes. “This is like, right behind His Majesty’s handsome portrait! But, like, if we go out there, I bet he’s gonna beat me again~ I don’t feel like it~”

_Behind the portrait…? That means right in front of the entrance! But the guards would be there…_

Ann turned to the other side of the corridor.

_There should be an elevator nearby, but that’ll take us to the tower…Not good. It’s too dangerous for me to go further. _

She felt anxious, and the stench on Cognitive-Ann was driving her sick.

“You know what? You need to shower. Where do you shower?”

“Shower!? Why would I wanna get rid of myself from this precious seed—“

“Ew! Y-You know what, His Majesty don’t like smelly women!” Ann promptly lied, feeling disgusted hearing someone with the same face of hers saying such obscure, disgusting things. “You gotta shower. You’re gonna get smelly again when you get punished later.”

“Hng…fine.” Cognitive-Ann pursed her lips and clapped her hands. In a blink of an eye, she’s free of stench and body fluid—even her skimpy bikini was clean. Her injuries were perfectly healed. “So, I’m gonna get punished now?”

“Y-Yes. Oh. Right! Show me where the torture chamber is.” Ann demanded.

The torture chamber was where in-game Ann awakened to Carmen, and it was not too far from a safe room, so Ren and the others would surely catch up to them if they wait there. Cognitive-Ann happily led the way, excited for her punishment.

However, Ann forgot that Cognitive-Ann was quite air-headed, because she just led them right into a flock of other harem-dwellers that were passing.

“And what do we have here!? Not one, but two whores!” one of the headless side-consort screeched, and Ann felt as if she’s in a fever dream hearing a headless body speaking.

“You’re no longer the Crown Princess here, you dirty whore! You should’ve stayed dead in the harem chamber!”

Cognitive-Ann giggled. “Aww, you’re still soooo jealous of me. Like, it’s not my fault that I have a face and you don’t~ His Majesty just see you guys as toilet cum dumpsters! Right~?” she nudged Ann’s elbow, and the other blonde wished she’d _shut the hell up_.

“Always looking down on us…Always, always…” one of the consorts began to fume and shiver in wrath, emitting red aura. The masks on their bosoms began to gleam.

_Oh shit. Oh man. Oh crap, crap, crap!_

“Looking down? Like, there’s nothing even to see~” Cognitive-Ann only spilled more oil to the fire, and yep, at that instance, Ann knew that they’re gonna get fucked, and they have to scram.

“Shut your mouth!” Ann hissed and grabbed the girl before dashing away, right when one of the consorts bursted into her true form, and followed with the rest of the furious shadows.

“GET BACK HERE YOU WHORES! OFF WITH YOUR HEADS!”

“Hee hee! In your dreams!” Cognitive-Ann sticks out her tongue.

“Oh my god! Shut up please!?” The real one snaps.

“You said please, so okie~ Like, you’re too nice~”

Ann was looking ahead but she just wanted to run, not exactly thinking where to run. A horde of Jealous Lovers were screaming murder at them, reforming as they fused into one. Ann could see the cold light behind them, and they dodged on time.

A Leanan Sidhe was formed. She floated above the floor, fury gracing her face, her golden locks flying around. The beauty fairy was out to drain their lives, darkness fuming from her fingers.

_Oh dammit, damn, damn, damn…calm down…calm down…where are we!?_

Ann dragged her Cognitive to hide behind a pillar whilst clamping the dumbass’ mouth shut. She tried to look at the window, ignoring the stained-painting of Kamoshida decorating the glass.

“_Come out here you coward bitches!_” the screeching woman sounded quite far, so Ann braced herself to peek at the window.

_Ah! That’s the maze! There should be an open window above the roof around here…_

“Don’t make any noise and follow me.” Ann told the Cognitive, who just drowsily nodded and followed the sneak.

It was hard because Leanan Sidhe said nothing else, and they couldn’t hear her because she’s floating. Ann tried to map and estimate where the open window could be. So far so good though—but of course when everything went too smoothly Ann couldn’t help but feel anxious.

Luckily they did find the wooden door to the broken window.

“Okay, I’m gonna climb up. Can you climb?”

“Like, no way? That’s so savage of you~” Cognitive-Ann watched the other blonde lifting herself up to the frame with a grunt. “Hey…you know what? What do you want from me, seriously? Like, you’re not trying to punish me.”

Ann was lending her hand down.

“Shut up. I’m also regretting this.”

“Jeez, then you should just go. You’ll like, totally die if you keep dragging me around.”

“I’m not! But, you looked like you’re in so much pain earlier, and I hate seeing myself so pathetic! Honestly I really want to punch you!” Ann grimaced, then shook her head. “I’m not gonna let that son of a bitch think of me so degrading anymore. You better get a grip! I’m gonna change not only his heart, but also how he thinks of me. I’m gonna be his nightmare!”

“His nightmare…”

“_Found you!_”

None of them was ready when Leanan Sidhe appeared right across the door. The fury and jealousy distorted her beautiful face, but when she launched at them with darkness, Ann couldn’t think for too long.

Cognitive-Ann stood there as darkness flashed in her empty eyes.

However, she found herself on the ground, and the darkness exploded the wall behind her instead, before slithering to capture Ann.

~.X.~

The dark matter—vine-like shadows trying to squeeze her life out of her, but Ann persisted and glared back at the beautiful fairy, whose beautiful face was graced with a cold expression.

“What’s so good about you?” she spat coldly, and then glared down at the Cognitive who was uselessly staring from the floor. “Why you? You’re not even in the team. Why you!?”

Ann gasped out; “What’s…so good…about Kamoshida…?”

The vines were strangling her neck further.

“Good job, my girls.” Someone was clapping, and the familiar nauseating voice of Kamoshida was heard from the door. Behind him were several guards, and on his ugly mug was a disgusting sneer as he eyed her greedily.

“Look at you. Who do you think you are, trying to rise against I?” Kamoshida let out a sigh. “Causing trouble for everyone. If only you’d be a good girl to me, then you won’t get Suzui on such a terrible situation. If you’d just come to me, the girls would just move on! I mean, not gonna lie, you’re a bit too much, Takamaki. A good fuck would be enough. But you wouldn’t even give me that! You totally deserve the hates.”

Ann could feel her consciousness leaving her, and it sucked that the last thing she’d heard was Kamoshida’s ugly taunting, blaming her for helping Shiho. She wanted to spit at his face and tell him that she didn’t regret it at all.

Even if she died, she wouldn’t regret it at all. She didn’t regret being honest. She would never regret standing up for her friends.

_Yes. Friends. They’re my friends. I don’t care if I’m not the real Ann or not. I’ll die many times, and help everytime, if that’ll help them find it in themselves to be brave. I’ll…never let this man walk over them ever again…_

_Ren…he’ll be fine, right? Will they manage to save Akechi and the others…? Is this as far as I can go…?_

Ann realized that she was being weak again. She began to struggle. Anything, just so she could breathe.

So she could live.

“I don’t…care….” She gasped, and grunted as she felt the shadow vines digging into her skin. Ann felt her tears being squeezed out of her.

“ANNIE!”

The vines stopped digging in further, and Ann peeked with one eye to see her friends finally there, just below, standing on the rooftop of the castle barrack. Ren, Ryuji, Morgana…Pogo. It was short, but she wanted to be there…she wanted more days with them…

“Nah-ah-ah, move and she’ll get crushed.” Kamoshida taunted, walking to the edge of the broken balcony, sneering down at them.

“Fucking scum!” Ryuji gritted his teeth, agitated but struck in his spot at the threat.

“Let go of her!” Morgana hissed.

However, the other two didn’t care for Kamoshida, as their glares were set on the bondaged girl who seemed like she’d combust with another squeeze.

“Ann! I won’t forgive you if you give in!”

“You said you won’t leave me alone! You promised!”

…

_I AM BEING CHOKED HERE, WHAT DO YOU EXPECT ME TO DO?_

_Right. It’s not about whether these people think they’ll let me live or not…It’s about whether I want to live or not. It’s not about whether I’ll ruin the game. I’ve made up my mind…I want to help. I know I can’t save everyone, but it’s not wrong to want to try. I don’t want to hold back anymore…_

_Took you a while, really. _

As if being squeezed to death was not painful enough, an imaginary hammer was jotted down in her brain, her heart wanted to explode. The gentle, sultry cold voice of a woman echoed in her head.

_So you get it now. You’re not here to be a hero. You’re here because you’re selfish. At least you’re finally honest about what you want. Even while we gaze at the cards, Carmen is always free. Now that we’re seeing eye to eye, will you take our hand?_

Ann could feel the squeezing cease, and suddenly everything that was crushing down on her just disappeared. The freedom felt so good, and her mind felt so light, she couldn’t help but snicker to herself.

“Now why on earth will I say no to that.”

In the nick of seconds, Leanan Sidhe was so enraptured with jealousy that she mustered herself to crush the figure trapped by her shadows. However, a severe amount of pain crawled onto her.

First, the shadow vines burnt rapidly like trails of gunpowder set on fire.

And then, fire exploded.

~.X.~

“_Look out!_”

Ren tackled the boy as they’re thrown off by the impact. Pogo watched his mother disappeared in the explosion with wide eyes. Everyone else took a few moments, as their ears stung with pain from the impact, but the boy just stood there, unmoving.

“Takamaki!”

“Is she…!?”

As the smoke gradually ceasing, they could see it, and they began to calm down.

Hanging from the decorative flag pole by a whip, was Takamaki Ann. Covered in skin tight red latex her fake tail hanging mischievously on her behind, whilst Kamoshida gaped at her in fear, as the explosion had killed his side-consorts.

“Your Majesty! It’s not safe!”

“Evacuate him!”

The guards began to act, and the captain vanguard took the king’s place, aiming his sword at Ann, before combusting into his true form.

“How dare you! Enough of your insolence!” Belphegor loomed over them.

Ann dodged the slashing gale, landing right next to Ren.

“Ann!”

She grinned at her friends. “It’s payback time, guys!”

Music played in her head, pumping up her excitement, and she didn’t feel like questioning it. How this random whip was in her hand, and how she knew that there’s a tommy gun somewhere in her tight pockets—Ann didn’t care and didn’t want to ask anymore.

So what if this was a game in her past life—in fact, so what if she did have a past life? Ren was right—she could just think about it when she crossed that bridge. Worries and fears would only stop her from action.

Her courage grew tenfold when Ren gave him his signature crooked grin, Morgana’s cheer, and Ryuji’s roguish laugh. She gave Pogo a wink, and she could sense Carmen right behind her, convincing her that it’s all real, and it’s all hers.

“Let’s go, Carmen!”


	10. Desires and Responsibilities

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *****In this chapter, Red takes the form of Violet, AKA Kasumi from P5 Royal. Consider it as an easter egg lol

“Pixie.”

Ann watches as the small pixie was summoned and fled towards her to heal her cuts. The Belphegor was defeated after a couple all-out-attack maneuver, but the creature managed to cut them several times with his wind magic. Ryuji had it worse, but Morgana was tending to him.

The battle music earlier had already reverted to a funky electric guitar music instead, befitting the squeamish feel of the palace. They managed to find a safe room after the fight. Pogo handed out drinks for them.

“Done!” Pixie winked, before disappearing with a flash of light.

“I’m glad there’s no scar.” Ren murmured, inspecting her arm. “How are you feeling?”

Ann felt super drowsy and tired she had to take several seconds before answering that she’s fine. The group then stared at the elephant in the room…well, the Cognitive-Ann, who just dumbfoundedly sat in the corner.

“So…why did you drag her with you?” Ryuji began, and Ann knew he was expecting a very good explanation…except that she had nothing.

“We can use her.” Pogo suddenly said, pulling his legs to lean his chin on his knees. “If part of her is a shadow, maybe you can make a contract, Joker.”

The battle earlier was quite a breeze. Before, Ann didn’t understand how Ryuji and Morgana learn elemental spells, but it seemed that the severe headache was related to a force-fed of knowledge about magic. When she fought the Belphegor with her fire magic, utilizing Carmen, it all made sense to her.

“It’s too badass to get more than one Persona, dude.” Ryuji chuckled at his friend, who calmly pulled out his gun and aimed at Cognitive-Ann.

“You hear them.”

The bikini-clad figure stared at him, then the gun, but then turned to Ann.

“Did you really bring me here because I look hurt and sad? You do know I’m not real, and I’m Kamoshida’s fantasy, right? Like, are you stupid or something?”

Ann watched the Cognitive was fuming. Before, Cognitive-Ann was just an airheaded skimpy blonde, and she truly just felt sorry for her. In the game, the real Ann slashed her with a sword, because she’s disgusted of how Kamoshida think of her. Ann felt the same way still, but knowing how there’s more to it in this palace, merely showed another depth of Kamoshida’s depravity and the other girls’ anguish at school.

Kamoshida viewed her as a dumb, slow, air-headed, and vain little slut, and he basked in how other girls were jealous of her, so much so that those pitiful girls were desperate enough to sell themselves to him. He didn’t even remember their faces, he only see them existing with torso and legs. Only Cognitive-Ann has her face, because her face stood out as exotic to him.

This Cognitive-Ann’s purpose was to fulfill all Kamoshida’s dirty fantasies and fetishes. And the creature herself basked in it, because…well, she believed that’s her purpose and that’s what she deserved.

So now that Ann had dragged her away to be an enemy of this entire castle, she had been stripped off of her purpose, and was fuming about it.

Ann sighed. “I don’t care, do whatever you want. Just know that we’re going to take this castle down.” She got up. “How about going now?”

“Hold it right there! Like, you can’t just drop me off like this!” Cognitive-Ann snapped and stood up angrily. “Take responsibility!”

“How? What do you want me to do?”

“Why did you…why did you bring me with you!?” it was a weird view, watching a skimpily-clad fantasy girl angrily crying to someone with the exact same face. “Everything was fine! I was the princess of this castle! Even though the side-consorts hated me, even though His Majesty abused me, I was happy! I was made for that! So why did you have to go and—“

“If you’re happy then just get out and go back to get beat up.” Ryuji coldly cut her off.

Cognitive-Ann shivered, tears falling off.

“I can’t now! You said I’m going to lose my purpose anyway!”

“That’s none of our business.” Morgana huffed. “Lady Ann was just being kind to you, she set you free, even though you meant nothing. You’re not real.”

She trembled with anguish. Pogo looked up at her curiously.

“Could it be, you want to live?” the boy asked.

Cognitive-Ann sobbed childishly before nodding. “Since I’ve come this far…I…I want to live! Th-That’s right! You’re responsible of my life now!” she pointed her index finger indignantly at Ann.

“Me!?” Ann gawked.

The boys stared at her. “Well…you did, brought her here and told her not to die, Lady Ann.” Morgana reluctantly admitted, and it was probably some sort of karma for dismissing Morgana the other day.

“…Yeah, Takamaki, you’re responsible for her.” Ren nodded decisively. “Does that mean she’s also going to stay in your home?”

“Huh!?” the red-clad teen flinched back. “I already have Pogo, now I’m sheltering this girl? You think my place is a dorm or something!?”

“She can’t leave the Metaverse.” Pogo pointed out, walking away to take a seat next to Ann. “She’s not completely real, so she couldn’t exist out side of Metaverse. She’s a meta-figure conjured out of fantasy, but I think she got her own free will somehow.”

“Then, how am I supposed to take care of her?”

Ren hummed with his arms crossed. He noticed that everyone seemed physically and emotionally drained, even the crying Cognitive, so as a leader, he decided that they should stop this discussion.

“Let’s leave this palace first and see what will happen. DJ.”

“Yes, Joker.” Pogo knocked the safe room door three times. Ann frowned in confuse of what’s about to happen.

When Pogo opened the door, they’ve skipped everything else in the castle and was welcomed by the outside view of the castle—the familiar alleyway. He had showcased earlier that he could bring out RPG functions for their infiltration, aside from BGM. Earlier, when they entered the palace, Pogo got them to the last safe room they’d been, that’s why it didn’t take too long until they reached the maze near the tower.

“I still don’t get how you can do that.” Morgana deadpanned.

“Hehe! No need to think too much~” the boy snickered and skipped out, before turning back. “Cognitive-san, you should change your outfit! You look like Annie so it’s weird seeing you like that.”

“And isn’t it weird to call her Cognitive-Ann? Like, super confusing. Takamaki, you name her something!” Ryuji complained again.

Ann mentally groaned, before facing her Cognitive, who had changed to wearing her school uniform. She looked upset, but just glared at Ann in waiting.

“Your name now is…Red.”

“Okay.”

“For now, you find shelter outside of the Castle’s territory and wait for us to come.”

“Alright.”

Ann gave her a long lasting glance at the newly remade Cognitive, before succumbing to the dizzying sensation as they exited the Metaverse.

~.X.~

A lot of things had to be discussed before they could progress further in the Palace. First, Ann had to explain a gist about Pogo, which was not much at all.

“It’s true that he’s my relative.” Ann says.

“Yeah, no, I don’t buy that.” Ryuji deadpans.

“Well there’s nothing I can do about that, is there? But, on my name, I trust him. If you can’t trust him, please trust me. I’ll be responsible of him. He’s helpful too, isn’t he? He’s a good boy!” she feels slightly nervous having to defend Pogo, but she’s adamant about it.

After all, Pogo is the only prove of her past-life. And that this life of hers is not just a game—and she’s not just a game-character.

“Isn’t it fine?” Ren speaks up calmly, after finishing his oolong tea. “We can trust Morgana too, even though we don’t know how he come to be here. Both Morgana and Pogo surely be helpful of us in taking down that King.”

Ryuji sighed. “Then, what do you want in return? Morgana did help us in return for helping him restore his form, right?”

Pogo seemed perplexed hearing this, but inched to sit closer, sticking to Ann.

“I don’t want anything else than staying with Annie.”

Morgana choke on air.

Regardless of everything that happened, they’d agreed to grind up at least two hours a day in the Palace, or at least going home after they reached a saferoom. Time still flew by in the Metaverse, another thing that reminded her of how different it was from a game, because in-game, time would not progress no matter how long they stayed in Metaverse.

So they explored cautiously and gradually adapted to using their Persona. Ren especially trained very hard whenever he’s trying to get a new Persona to join their cause, which required him to be at a certain level of power. Ryuji’s Captain soon learned other magic spell and physical spell, and seeing Captain Kidd trampling enemies with his ship was nothing short of thrilling.

Carmen bestowed her with elegance in her moves, which she could sometimes channel when doing photoshoots. It’s nothing different than talking mentally to herself (well, Carmen _is_, the personification of herself, in a way). Other than that, she was grateful that her exercise had paid off, because doing parkour in the castle without prior training could be hard on anyone’s muscles.

Pogo, on the other hand, his Persona was something that hadn’t been in the game, as far as she could remember. It’s called V, and his face was covered by the Guy Fawkes mask, which was probably something that was derived from V for Vendetta. His skill was something spatial and somatic-related, which allowed him to infuse music, teleport safe rooms, and he could teleport like a ninja on his own. His presence helped Ann had an easier grasp of how the game-mechanism works.

“Shouldn’t you be called Ninja instead?” Skull yawned as he dropped himself on the long sofa of the saferoom. They had been grinding up quite a lot, and the distortion had been getting worse, so they surely were close to the top of the castle now.

“I can’t throw flying knives of smoke bombs, though.” DJ hummed to himself. He quickly distracted himself at the delicious aroma of curry. “Lunch time!”

“Alright, eat well, everyone.” Joker chuckled, setting down the container he brought, which was filled with LeBlanc curry. Skull and DJ soon bickered about getting the first serving from Red.

At first he thought it was a bit silly to bring food in this heist, but food was actually the only thing that helped him concentrate when using magic spells. Joker realized he might had been a bit sexist to Panther for insisting to bring food as their supply.

“Five more days…Do you think we can do this?” Mona asked their leader, and thanked DJ for giving him a plate of curry.

“If you’re worried, we can just put in more time.” Skull suggested with a shrug, then chowing down his curry quickly.

“Your time management had been good, so it’s better to not get worked up.” Red, who had been in charge of serving food, spoke up. However, she then seemed a little down. “I wonder what would happen when this Palace disappeared…What if I disappear?”

Out of all the members in their strange team, Red was the most out-of-place. Not only she was a former enemy-made cognition, she used to be a cognitive version of Ann. After a while, she started changing her appearance. Now she’s a red-haired girl with a build more petite compared to Ann, showing how much she’s trying to further her own image from Ann. The closer they got to the Treasure, the quieter and calmer she become, unlike her past image as Kamoshida’s-imaginary-of-Ann.

Thanks to her, they could gather all the maps of the castle and had been cutting the trips faster. She’s been very helpful in distracting enemies as well.

“If you regret it, what are you going to do about it?” Panther asked, genuinely curious.

Red stared at Panther quietly, before seeming to gain resolve. She smiled. “I…don’t want to think about it right now. I only know that right now, I just want to help you guys beat that bastard! Change how he thought of Panther!”

“I think seeing how much you changed is already proof that his perception of Panther had changed…” Joker commented.

It’s also related to the real-world interaction. Ann didn’t let people bully her, and she didn’t save her sarcastic words whenever Kamoshida was going after her. She understood game-Ann’s anxiety over her image, and how the girl had been brushing it all off by clinging to her friends, only putting their opinions of her as priority, but _she_ had to think of a bigger picture.

First of all, she’s not trying to change the game as much as she could help it. It’s important that Ren could save the world in the end, and that he’s safe from the fake-Igor. According to Pogo, as long as the two of them didn’t blurt out anything crucial to Morgana or Ren, they would be safe. Fake-Igor could only perceive the hearts of people in the Metaverse, through the veins in Mementos. All of which excluded the people who were to be Joker’s Confidants, because most of them were not included along the public’s views. In other words, they’re the Outcasts. This fact had also put Morgana’s existence out of fake-Igor’s considerations.

Secondly, even though she did say she didn’t want to change the game too much, there would be instances that she had to, and that would be where she had to save the victims that got severely injured during the game’s timeline. Those people would be Shiho, Principal Kobayakawa, President Okumura, and Akechi Goro. This is because it’s against her morals to just ignore people in danger, as much as she hates some of them.

Lastly…this is actually her life. Not just a game. Part of her memories that were not originally Ann’s, cannot be separated anymore. Ann’s beauty, and her past-life’s maturity, she won’t be torn about which one is the true her, she’ll embrace them and use them all to her benefit.

So as much as she didn’t care of how people think of her, she didn’t necessarily want them to freely judge her based on rumors or without truly knowing her. It’s a bad habit of Japanese people to just quietly assume things like that, and in-game Ann had probably just resigned to it, but now, she had no qualms to be more out-spoken. In her mind, she’s not just a teenager who’s trying so hard to fit in. If they don’t want to give her a place to fit in, then they can just eat her dust!

With that kind of mindset in her actions at school, it surely and slowly changed how Kamoshida viewed her. That man hadn’t been trying to harrass her lately. Thanks to Makoto-senpai as well, the girls didn’t have the nerve to pull sneaky stunts on her anymore.

“Red, it’s okay to want something.” Panther nodded to the red-head, “It means you’re alive. And not getting what you want is also part of life.”

“Whoah…Panther, when did you get so wise!?” Skull gawked in disbelief.

“Hey! I’m an actuall pillar of wisdom, ya know!” she sticks her tongue out childishly.

“So…it’s okay that I want to live? That I don’t want to disappear?” Red seems touched.

“Even if I tell you to stop, can you stop yourself to want it?”

“No…You’re right. I see! So that's what it means to desire!”

It seems that Red’s understanding warmed the atmosphere. They’re in such a strange world, fighting against such a strange tyrant, and little things like helping this out-of-the-world creatures like Mona and Red made their efforts felt a lot more meaningful.

“Then, let’s make the last push. We’ll find the treasure today.” Joker stood up.

~.X.~

That day, they took longer than usual, but it was worth it, because they managed to find the treasure. With that, the only thing they had to do would be to send the calling card, but Ren said he wanted them to prepare more, considering they still had a few days left. Morgana agreed; since they could only get one shot of this, they better be prepared.

“Ren, how’s it going at your place? Did you get in trouble for taking in Morgana?” Ann asked. They walked to the station together quite often since the events with Metaverse.

“I think Boss is actually fond of cute things, so of course I’m very welcomed!” Morgana took it upon himself to answer. “Lady Ann, you’re in worse peril, since you’re taking in an actual person in your house.” He nodded to Pogo.

“Yeah, wouldn’t your neighbors asked about him?” Ren hummed.

“You guys are so rude, talking as if I’m not here.” Pogo huffed. “Everyone believed I’m her relative, and even the old lady across the street had been giving me sweets sometimes for watching over her children.”

“Pogo likes to do odd-jobs when I’m at school. He walks the dogs around the community and plays with younger kids too. Because of his looks, people believe that he’s being homeschooled. Even kids who go to school know him.” Ann then adds in admiration, “Also, he’s very smart! He’s been teaching me math!”

“The fact that you would say such thing without embarrassment shows how wide your heart is, Lady Ann.” Morgana amends.

“Hey~ I know I’m not a book-smart person, so what can I do?” she giggles, but then is reminded of the Protagonist’s progress with his own study. “Then, how’s the classes here, Ren? Has it been too hard?”

Ren chuckles. “Well, I actually like studying. No, I can even say that studying had been the only thing I’m good at, to the point I didn’t have friends in my old school.”

“Hm, that reminds me of Niijima-senpai.”

“Oh no, I’m not that ambitious. I don’t really like being told what to do, or prove myself or anything like that. I usually just do what I want, and back then, I was not really interested in making friends…” he played with his curls before adding; “Honestly, I didn’t even plan to make friends when getting here. I was going to study, pass the year, and go home after my probation ends.”

Ann listened attentively. In the game, the Protagonist didn’t say much about himself, so hearing what he actually thinks—and speaking so much about himself like just then was very important to her. It helped her a lot to remember that, despite his grandeur destiny to save the world, he really was just a young boy. A bit rebellious, reckless, carefree, but seemed to have anxieties of his own.

“You sounded like you got dragged into a lot of things.” Pogo commented.

“It seemed that way, but I’ve been progressing because I choose to.” Ren nodded. “I’ve set my mind, so I’ll do whatever it takes to succeed. I don’t like being half-assed.”

“That’s a great mindset to have as a leader.” Morgana praises.

“I’m nowhere near Ann’s level though.” He rubbed his nape with a sheepish smile, “You seem bubbly and reckless, quite outspoken too, but it’s like you knew more. Be it about how people look at you, or in the Metaverse. How do I say it? It’s like, you’ve matured a lot compared to me. Also, you seemed to had worries before, but now you seemed to be a lot more confident. Honestly, I would really like to have that kind of charm.”

“Right? I wonder, is it because Lady Ann’s experience as a model?”

Ann giggles. “Maybe? I just didn’t want to let people walk all over me anymore. I’m glad you see it that way instead of me being overbearing though.”

Actually, it might be related to remembering a bit of her past life, but sometimes the fact that she knew she already had a son and had been married made her feel strangely at ease about many things. The little things that teenagers often worried about, such as fitting in, finding one’s purpose, facing the future, it’s not even limited to the fact that she already knew what’s about to go down in the game.

“Annie, can I have a phone?” Pogo suddenly asked, tugging on her hand.

“Ah, that’s right…Kids nowadays should have a phone.” Ann’s mind began to rush to calculate her current budget. Her parents sent money weekly just enough for utilities and necessity, but it’s for a single person’s living. Ann had extra cash from her part-time, but it was not enough.

Although Pogo could utilize Metaverse to teleport, he’s not an esper in real life. And him doing odd-jobs around the neighborhood could only gather pocket money and mostly food or toys.

“We get money from Metaverse, why don’t we use it?” Ren suggested.

“No. You should use it for yourself, alright? As a Leader, you’re our biggest Asset, so you must take care of yourself.” Ann quickly refused the idea of having another person funding her child. “Pogo is my responsibility. I’ll find a way to get him a phone…but for now, I think I have an old flip cell phone you can use.”

“Ooh! I wanna see antique things like that.” Pogo cheered excitedly.

“People in Japan still use that kind of phone—even some kids at school still use them, it’s not that antique.” Ren couldn’t help but say, slightly laughing at Pogo’s words.

Even until they arrive home, Ann was still thinking about a good way of getting more money. Of course, she found the red flip phone she had used in middle school before converting to smartphone. Pogo was ecstatic as he took it and began tinkering with it.

Money earned through Metaverse exploration should be solely for Phantom Thieves’ funding purposes, and mainly for Ren’s daily life. Their leader was only doing a bit better compared to an upcoming member, after all. Thinking about her friends getting hungry made her feel even more compelled to take on the responsibility of making sure they’re fed well. Perhaps it was her past-life’s motherly instinct.

What would be a good way to get more money? Other than modelling, teenagers usually make money through making webtoons, webnovels, taking art commissions, doing other part-time jobs…oh, and lately making online videos had been a way to gain money—but that would need a certain amount of following, wouldn’t it?

_Hmm! What about Instagram?_

She had random followers on her account that amounted up to two thousands. Her account was called @pricute, which was a play on the word ‘apricot’, ‘cute’, and utilizing the ‘@’. It might be miniscule compared to big names, but surely, two thousand followers are large enough to be monetized. Her past pictures had been random shoots of her crepes with Shiho, her OOTDs, and well…mostly food…

_I think I can do this_.

She was so tired, but she stayed up late to make an Instagram post of her facial routine at night, listing the products she used. She’s quite sure the response would garner interests from some companies. Ann made sure to delete her old posts that revealed her identity too much.

As expected, the next day, as she dazedly bit her dry toast and checking her Instagram, at least eight people messaged her to offer for sponsor…and of course a ton other random dudes saying hi and asking her out…

Well, whatever, she’ll take care of them later. It’s school again!


	11. Coup D’Etat

Two days later, it’s their time to go and punish the King.

The day before, Ren compiled the medications and first-aid kits, making sure each of them bring enough to survive, and warning them to back off if they’re up to their limits. Also, he warned that they cannot skip lunch no matter what, because it’ll be draining to their focus and power to use magic.

However, when they arrived to the Palace, they couldn’t find Red. They couldn’t waste too much time, though, as the Treasure had to be materialized by now, so with heavy hearts, they kept on moving to the final Safe Room using Pogo’s power.

Just like in the game, Mona freaked out and began clamoring around the giant crown.

“Treasure~ Ahh~!”

“The heck with this dumb cat!?” Skull shivered in fright at the sight of Mona shedding away his usual pride and poise.

Panther didn’t really want to give away herself for not reacting properly, so she said; “I’m very worried thinking about Red’s disappearance…we should just take this out and leave quickly before anything else happen.”

“Alright. Mona, if you don’t snap out of it, I will ask Skull to bash you with his ship.” Joker warned the cat quite sternly, seeming to share her anxiety.

“Ack! Oof. Ahem. I’m…I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me.” Mona cleared his throat and regained his composure. “We have no choice but to carry it by hands! I’ll be the eyes!”

“Hey! Why are you deciding it on your own!?” Skull complained.

“We’re four humans, and you’re complaining that a cat won’t help carry this gigantic crown?” DJ said, rendering Skull speechless in defeat.

For once, Mona didn’t complain about being called a cat.

And so, the four of them began to ‘heave-ho’ and carry the crown out. Panther was calm, knowing that this was just a pretense, because they’ll have to face Kamoshida right after exiting the treasure chamber; but Red’s disappearance truly nagged her mind.

Sure enough, she heard a mysterious, sickening cheer. As the others tried to find that voice, a loud bang was heard, and soon, a spiking volleyball had tossed down the gigantic crown from their hands.

Then, a robed figure did a sommersault over them before raising to stop the rolling crown with one hand, turning it into a smaller size with a bright light. A Cognitive-Ann with the same skimpy bikini quickly clung to him.

“God. At least wear shorts.” DJ groaned, and the other four mentally agreed to this punchline.

“Shaddup! Yet another stupid brat to your petty rat team!”

“You shaddup then you rat-face!” Ryuji spat back. Ann mentally facepalmed.

_What’s with this childish bickering!? Also, he’s still making that dumb Cognitive version of me!?_

“Stupid brats, coming here just as I planned! I shall get rid of you right here right now!”

Ryuji scoffed. “That’s our line you horndog!”

The scumbag puffed his chest, letting the fake girl play with his covered nipple sensually as he made his speech.

“How can I be a horndog if those girls throw themselves at me? Surely you’re just misunderstanding things due to your miniscule brain. Those people who come to be my slaves and my bedwarmers came from their own volition, because they want to profit from my talent! What’s so wrong with that equal exchange!?”

It’s nothing they hadn’t heard, the fact that students let themselves getting stepped on by this dirty asshole, or that in a way, it’s consensual abuse; but hearing the bastard actually saying it as an excuse pissed her off.

“You’re a _fucking adult_! What you did was manipulating unassuming teenagers, their anxieties of future and worries of fitting in to jack off your ego! And sure, they’re dumb for selling their dignity to false honor, but you’re the biggest jackass here for taking advantage of that!”

It seemed her words prickled what’s left of his conscience, as he flinched and gritted his teeth.

“Drop the attitude, mediocre peasant! You’re just a child yourself! When you’re in my position, I doubt you’d be able to hold yourself from doing such things!”

It seemed the notion that underestimated their age, had personally offended Joker.

“You goddamn adults kept saying that we’re brats, but can’t even keep it together—should just really shove those words up your ass.” He’s here because a fucking drunkard couldn’t hold himself back from harrassing a woman, and he’s right here precisely because this rat-faced dickbag of a teacher had been harrassing his friend. “You’re going down.”

“Pah! I’m a cut above all other humans! All I ever go and will ever do is going up!”

Panther scoffed. “I think you meant beneath!”

“And you’re going even lower! You’re going to hell, you demon!” Skull unleashed his hammer.

“Get ready, I can sense his rage!” Mona exclaimed, raising his scimitar.

Kamoshida squeezed the Cognitive-Ann as he raised his crown with his free hand, chuckling maniacally. “That’s right…I am different than all of you! I am a demon who rules this world!”

The sickening transformation was soon triggered; Kamoshida tripled in size and grew impossibly uglier than a reptile to the point that it’s actually an insult to reptiles. The Cognitive-Ann in his arm was plunged into a giant glass of wine, and soon he was surrounded by what he’s deemed ‘slaves’, as they brought forth a giant goblet filled with the naked consorts for him to consume.

The ugly shadow roared with its tongue slobbering around disgusting saliva, and Panther felt sickened through all her senses.

“He has small pee-pee.” DJ was already upstairs, away from them, and the boss battle music rang through their mind, recovering their composure.

“Look! The Treasure’s right on his head!” Mona pointed out. “We gotta find a chance to topple it off of him!”

“It’s go time now!” Skull roared and rushed in to summon Captain Kid, the grand ship quickly flown across the room and crashing right into Kamoshida’s face—or what was supposed to happen if not for his long disgusting tongue flicking the ship out of the way.

“Treason! Treason! Death penalty!” Kamoshida screeched, and the slaves went into formation, attacking Skull with torrents of volleyball spikes. Except the balls were as hard as concrete.

“_Fuck!?_” Skull somehow dodged the sudden meteorites that slammed around him with hammering voices.

“Don’t get reckless!” Joker warned, lifting himself up to the balcony to avoid the swish of that slobbering tongue, before channelling Andras and launched ice bricks in retaliation.

Eventhough Ann knew that Mona, and Joker’s Pixie have healing charm, they couldn’t possibly risk anyone getting fatal injuries from such deadly attacks. There had to be limits to what healing spells can do; if any of them caught those flying concrete balls, they’d surely break something, or worse, die.

“By the way, you guys should really get that trophy off, because he’d heal if he eats it.” DJ said from his corner.

“Thanks for the insight!” Joker snickered, finding a smaller goal to conquer, he dashed to target the trophy.

It took them some time and coordination to topple it off. Skull being the fastest, floated around on his ship distracting the slaves and dodging concrete balls. Mona took on distracting the golden knife and fork, whilst Panther snaked around attacking the nasty tongue, all to let Joker topple the goblet.

“No! That was from the nationals!” the Asmodeus cried as he watched the trophy spilled the dead consorts and disappeared.

In his distress, they attacked him at once in an all-out force, landing a significant amount of damage.

However, the nasty shadow kept crying and slobbering, his four hands creating havoc all-around, to the point that the balconies were destroyed. This was out of expectations, because in-game, one of them could go up there to topple the crown. Panther who was thinking this, glanced around finding a lee way.

“If only there’s a way for us to get up to that chandelier and topple off the crown!” Mona grunted, getting up after getting flown off from the impact.

“There’s no choice. We can only attack until he’s tired!!” Skull gritted his teeth.

“Bahahaha! Tired!? You peasants going against _my_ superior stamina!?” he staggered to sip his drink, making sure to suck on the body in the wine as well, when suddenly…

“Off with your head!”

The body jumped out of his gaping mouth and swung her legs up to kick off the crown, before landing on the ruins with a loud crash, followed by the loud banging fall of the crown.

“NOO! My precious!” the shadow turned in fury to the figure that just got him. “How dare you! Such insolence—“

“I’m done with your nastiness!” with a grunt, Red got up from the ruins, bruised and drenched in wine and saliva, but despite almost entirely naked, she stood tall pridefully in her red-haired form of her choosing.

“After all the love I gave to you!? What happened to my princess!? What did you do!?”

“I’m not your princess! I am Red! It’s a coup!” she pointed a finger at him, and so did the rest of her friends, pointing at the Asmodeus with their guns.

“Your reign is over, now!” with her words, they launched their final all-out attack.

~.X.~

Even after his Asmodeus figure crumbled, and the gigantic crown returned to its original shape, the shameless ‘King’ went and caught it like a thief before dashing out of the treasure hall.

“Stop him!” Red shouted, and before the five ran to do that, the other cognitives had arrived to chase him to the point that he fell off the stairs and cowered pathetically, protecting the crown in a fetal position beneath the gazes of the people who were formerly his subjects.

“You all blame me all you want, but it’s all your fault!” Kamoshida cried desperately, “You put on expectations in my talent, and you paid accordingly!”

“We are not blameless, but aren’t you shameless!? You convinced us that our dignity was a small price compared to the victory!” the harem consorts cried.

“My parents allowed me to get abused, and you didn’t really make it easier on us! All we could do was to grit and suck it up, accepting that this was normal to gain honor! But was it really!? Was it not your responsibility as a teacher to teach us that!?” the slaves angrily accused.

“Are you a teacher or a tyrant!?”

“Are we your students or slaves!?”

The Phantom Thieves watched the persecution from above the staircase. Skull, Joker and Mona seemed pleased, but Panther alone was confused of this event.

“Those cognitives raised against their creators…?” she mumbled in confusion.

“They’re mostly shadows as well, which means some of them ought to be the true selves of the students in the real world.” Mona explained. “Somehow, they had to finally gained the courage to stand up against Kamoshida, even though they could only dare to do so when he’s down.”

That sounded to make a lot of sense, but Panther just found it strange because this was not something that happened in the game. DJ tugged her hand.

“It seems that your actions at school inspired them to learn what dignity is, that’s why they acted this way.”

“It’s not only me, though. Skull and Joker hand been making things easier for me to face them head-on. Niijima-senpai too.”

Even Shiho, who had to get away from school, had been spending her resting time bashing students who tweeted out mean things about Ann. Instead of letting people fume on rumors with their own assumptions, they had been coming over and asked them to say it to their face. Of course this was not something fun, especially when put on spotlight, but a tradition to avoid people instead of facing them to get the truth was dishonest and unhealthy. This was also a big reason why the people just relied on big news companies for information, allowing them to make judgments based on the news, despite not truly knowing the truth or doing research.

Ann only meant to set things straight for her own terms, but she didn’t expect to inspire some people. She still remembered in-game Ann’s anxieties of adjusting to Japanese culture to keep things to their own and not making others uncomfortable, but the other part of her, from her past life, had a much experienced and different outlook on things.

_If things could be this way, hopefully school would be much more bearable for Ren and Ryuji_.

“Kamoshida, you’re hereby stripped off of your crown and to face punishment.” Red commanded, and the guards confiscated the crown, and some were chaining down the pathetic fallen King.

“And all the subjects that had been partaking in your crime shall also face their punishment.” She added, nodding to the rest of the subjects, before taking the crown. She stared at it for a while, and then threw it to Joker, who caught it with one hand.

“What…what kind of punishment…?”

“Well,” Red tapped her lips. “I would really like it to hang your head in front of the gates…” she smirked upon seeing how the consorts, guards, and several slaves flinched, and how Kamoshida turned even paler than before, “But all of you need to report this and confess to all this, with no exception. Some of you are going to bear shame and face the wrath of your parents, but you won’t be alone bearing the shame. Make sure that the persecution progress justly.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Kamoshida and the rest of his subjects gradually disappeared, leaving Red standing on her own, before turning to face the remaining four with a calm smile. She looked down on her skimpy figure and conjured herself a modest, Queen Anne dress before walking upstairs to meet them one last time.

“This Palace won’t hold up until I disappear.” the red-head told them with a sad smile. “Unlike them, I’m truly a mere cognition, without any existence within me, so I’m afraid as much as I would like to stay, I will disappear.”

“What do you mean ‘without any existence’?” Skull shook his head, a wry smile on his face. “You exist, right now, ya know? We are here, seeing you.”

“Just because it’s a memory, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.” DJ said, perhaps more to himself.

“Then, even if I will no longer be seen, at the very least let me live within you.” She presented them with a piece of glowing pink gem. “This is a token of myself to remind you that even if for a short while, I found my **self-worth**.”

Red waited for any of them to come up and take it, but Joker nodded to Panther, who flinched.

“You saved her, so you deserve to keep it.”

Panther couldn’t argue with his logic, and dragged herself to accept the gem. Upon touching it, the gem disappeared and flew into her heart.

_The Red Queen’s Heart has been conquered._

The voice that was similar to her, but she knew, it was probably Carmen’s voice that rang in her mind.

_What the heck? What does that even mean?_

_Hmm, I wonder? Why don’t you follow suit your leader and stop asking difficult things?_

Sometimes she could be contradicting herself like that.

“Alright then.” Red snickered. “I think you better run now.” She glanced up, and on cue, the palace began to quake.

The Red Queen watched the Phantom Thieves sauntered away in her last moments before disappearing into twinkling lights.

~.X.~

Ryuji gasped and bent down leaning on his knees. Ren seemed unfazed as ever, just a little sweaty, whilst Ann thinks she’s positively dying from the fastest sprint of her life. There’s no need to be concerned of Morgana, who had been hitch-hiking Ren, or Pogo, who had teleported himself without breaking a single sweat. Thanks to the destructive impact of the crumbling palace, they were all blown out of the Metaverse boundary and back to the alleyways.

“D-Did we do it?” Ryuji managed to gasped out.

“Yeah…I think so…?” Ren raised the Olympic medal from his pocket. “This is the crown we took earlier.”

“The heck…?” the fake-blond gasped and gawked at it. “Is this the real one? Like, how the heck did Kamoshida’s stuff ended up there? Did we freaking steal it!?”

“No, don’t worry about it. He still has the real one.” Morgana said calmly.

Unexpectedly, Ren himself was the one who pushed further. “Then, what am I holding?”

Morgana seemed speechless, but Pogo jumped in to save him from the agonizing question.

“Certain things amassed from great cognitive powers could materialze enough to leave the Metaverse as an item. Which explains the treasures and cash you’ve been gaining from your time there. Even though it doesn’t look like it, the Metaverse is another world with its own system and inhabitants like our own world, so even though it’s been said that it’s a world of created from people’s consciousness, it’s still an existing world.”

Ryuji sighs. “Yeah. I don’t get it.”

“Just think about it as…this medal existed because Kamoshida wished it so strongly, so strongly he did all the bad deeds, and it formed this medal as a token that his ugly desire existed…” Pogo added, “Like Red, and the gem she gave Ann. Had she existed a bit longer and her desire to exist grew powerful, that gem might exist in this world too. For now, it exists within Annie’s heart.”

Ryuji seemed to give up on thinking too much about the medal, but remembering Red made him slightly dejected.

“She’s not a bad kid.” he muttered.

“Do you think you’re similar to Red, Morgana?” Ren asked. It seems he questioned these things because he genuinely wants to help Morgana. The cat shakes his head.

“I can’t say. What about you, Pogo?”

“I never have any problem of understanding what I am.” The boy lifted the cat into his arms and tickled its furry black head with his index finger, slightly smiling. “But don’t worry, Morgana. Clearly you’re destined for greater things. You have such an amazing power, after all.”

Seeing the cat seemed appeased, Ann couldn’t help but smile, because Pogo probably knew what Morgana is. Even though the boy could be sarcastic and had a dry sense of humor, he could be very genuine, as he did just now with his words to the cat.

“So…” she patted her skirt, “We can only wait, huh? What do you think will happen?”

Ann merely asked, because after witnessing the entirely new scene in that palace, she had no idea of what would go down in the next three days. Ren shrugged, turning to gaze at their school.

“Whatever happens, we did all we could. As Pogo had said, maybe if we wished it strongly and put a strong effort on it in the Metaverse as well, things would change here for real.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please bear in mind that i write this for my personal enjoyment. i have no excuse for bad grammar and yes yes i know sometimes i switch between using present and past tenses. and yes if u havent figured it out already i love ann very much thats why this fanfiction exists. i dont care if anyone thinks my way of portraying some characters are ooc, they're how i perceive them in my own loving way (or least hateful way) (i am glaring at u shido and kamoshida). im gonna be glad if u can enjoy this fanfic as its own universe instead of a direct adaptation of the game, it'd be better if u think of it as its own transmigration-reincarnation fanfiction lol. if i want to print this to fannovel i will get a beta reader, but right now im giving it my all to write all those chapters out of my sheer love for ann, so im sorry but wasting ur time commenting about my grammar or telling me to get beta reader is like my mom telling me what i already know i should do, except that ur not my mom and so i will procrastinate on that teehee. oh oh of course i know a lot of time what i wrote is confusing, so just ask in the comment which parts and i'll explain or even fix it. that kind of comment is ok, and also commenting about what u think of the story so far is very welcome. bashing is fine too, actually, do whatever u want, im just giving u heads up on what might get respond. im a horrible person who's very shitty at responding too. if u actually like this fanfiction, i'm happy to hear it, but let's all pray that i get the time, inspiration, motivation and will power to finish it. amen. now merry christmas, happy mother's day, happy new year, namaste, or whatever u celebrate, i give u a merry.


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